Notebook: Mullen on QBs, Chatfield still with team, grading out vs FAU

The Gators came out of the FAU game without sustaining any new injuries, which is good. However, Mullen did provide an update on Kamar Wilcoxson.

The redshirt freshman will miss the entire 2021 season after undergoing knee surgery. Prior to the first game, Mullen downplayed the extent of Wilcoxson's injury saying he would only be "doubtful" for Saturday but they would go from there. Monday he confirmed Wilcoxson's season is done.

"Kamar Wilcoxson is going to miss the year, he had a knee surgery so he's going to miss the rest of the season."

The Gators also played the opener without four defensive linemen. Jalen Lee (ankle), Jaelin Humphries (wrist), Christopher Thomas (left leg), and Lamar Good (undisclosed), all missed the FAU game. The Gators were able to still perform well up front thanks in large part to contributions from three transfer linemen but need to get those four back for depth as soon as possible.

"Hoping to get, Lamar Goods back this week on the defensive line. Jalen Lee is going to be questionable, we're not sure, he'll be right there on the edge of being ready for this game on the defensive line," Mullen said. "So you know, having four interior D-linemen out, that was tricky in game one so hopefully we get two of them back this week. Jaelin Humphries and Chris Thomas will both be another week or two."

Despite entering the transfer portal last week, Andrew Chatfield was in uniform and on the field for the Florida Gators Saturday. Chatfield tweeted out a message announcing his intention to enter the transfer portal and his name remains there but he is still participating with the Gators and remains on scholarship.

While Dan Mullen said that Chatfield played on Saturday, he was not on the official participation report.

A player that enters the transfer portal can remain on scholarship and still participate if they are in good standing with the team. That appears to be the case for the junior defensive lineman.

When you rush the ball for 400 yards you'd think that the offensive line would get a lot of the credit, which Dan Mullen gave them.

"I thought the offensive line did a solid job. I think one of the things, there's some experience with those guys right there. So you see a little probably less Game 1 jitters and being back out there," he said. "To them, it's not, 'Hey, I'm out on the field, wow, this is a crazy experience.' Their adjustment is, 'We're back out on the field.' So they're kind of adjusting to game mode, game speed, game dynamics more than just the experience of playing. But I thought those guys handled it pretty well. You see some really good things they did and they missed a couple of things here and there that we'll get corrected."

But there is always room to grow and improve.

"I thought they missed a couple of blocks here and there," Mullen said of the line's performance against FAU "Just within the scheme could have made some better decisions within our scheme and what we were doing. Not all of them graded out so just more consistency of play."