Billy Napier confirms there has been no thought of shutting down Kingsley Eguakun, Devin Moore

Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier confirmed that the team hasn’t given any thought to shutting down either Kingsley Eguakun or Devin Moore.

Both Eguakun and Moore have battled injuries this season. With only two games left to play and the Gators struggling at 5-5 on the season, there had been some thought that the pair might not play again this season.

“No,” Billy Napier said, bluntly.

Devin Moore missed the LSU game despite not appearing on a weekly injury report. However, according to Napier, that came down to when he was hurt.

“Devin’s injury happened Thursday during practice. That’s why it wasn’t reported. We’re pretty transparent when it comes to injuries. Wednesday, you’ll know where we’re at. Between now and then, we’re gonna work on getting as many players available as we can.”

Moore is a defensive back who came to Florida as a four-star recruit in the 2022 cycle, per the On3 Industry Rankings. In 2023, he’s appeared in five games while battling injuries throughout the season.

For his part, Kingsley Eguakun was a three-star recruit in the 2019 cycle. He started every game of the 2021 and 2022 seasons for Florida. He was starting at center this season but has only started in four games amid those injury issues.

Finding a way to get these two healthy for the final couple of games would be huge for Billy Napier. At 5-5, the Gators need a win to get bowl eligible. However, with both of those games coming against ranked opponents that have plenty to play for at this point, it won’t be easy to get that all important sixth win of the season.

Billy Napier Florida doesn’t have any problem keeping guys together

During Florida’s loss to LSU on Saturday, the Gators needed to deal with a long series of emotional swings throughout the game, particularly in the second half. Ultimately, the Tigers ended up pulling away and handing the Gators a rivalry loss. Still, Billy Napier emphasized that the team stayed together.

“We don’t have that problem. We don’t have any problem keeping guys together. We need to execute a little bit better,” Napier said.

“We’ve got intangibles. We’ve got morale. We have a group that tries to do the right way. We’ve just got to continue to learn and grow. Play with more detail, more discipline, more poise, communicate better. Work hard on our fundamentals. Those are where our issues are. We don’t have any issue staying together. That’s a fact.”