Patience is a virtue but that doesn't mean it's easy.

Emory Jones will turn 21 years old this April and he's never started a football game at Florida. In fact, in three years with the Gators, Jones has only played in 24 games and attempted just 92 passes.

In a world where thousands of players enter the NCAA transfer portal seeking more playing time, it would have been conceivable, perhaps even understandable, that Jones would have taken that route at some point before this season.

“It has been hard but it’s all been for a reason," Jones said Thursday after the Gators' first spring practice. "That’s what I’ve realized over the past years. I have been playing a little bit, so that keeps me going. I’ve just been watching the guys in front of me do their best and watching how they move and how they operate and it’s definitely just helping me, it definitely helped me out throughout the way.”

On Thursday the wait was over. Jones jogged out to the practice field and when the offense lined up he was in charge. For the first time since he enrolled at Florida in January of 2018, the first offensive snap was his to take.

Like Kyle Trask before him, Jones has waited a long time to become the starter but the wait has made the moment sweeter.

"When I first got here the first thing he always said to me was, 'Development, development, development.' And I always tried to keep that in the back of my head," Jones said. "It was tough going through all the years just playing a couple of plays. It definitely was tough, but just going in made me confident. So I've just been working my tail off every year just trying to get better."

Maybe it's the wait. Maybe three years on the sideline has given Jones perspective. Just because he's the presumed starter doesn't mean he's taking it for granted.

"It's always a competition here. Anthony, he's been on my butt every practice. I mean, like we're all out there competing, just trying to get better," Jones said. "Like I said, I'm really just glad that we're having spring camp this year, so we're all just out there trying to get better."

The wait is now over and Jones is saying all of the right things. He's worked his tail off and waiting, painfully at times, for this opportunity.