DJ Lagway injury update: Billy Napier reveals latest on Florida QB's status

As Florida heads into a pivotal showdown with LSU, needing two wins to reach bowl eligibility still, all eyes are on the status of quarterback DJ Lagway.

Lagway suffered a hamstring injury in a loss to Georgia and missed last week’s contest against Texas. But there are encouraging signs that he’s on the mend and could be available this weekend.

“DJ continues to improve,” coach Billy Napier said Wednesday on an SEC teleconference call. “I think we’ve seen progress every day and I think that’s allowed him to participate more in practice. Obviously we’re kind of controlling that environment, but in general I think we continue to trend in the right direction.”

DJ Lagway has been considerably improved since first taking over as the starter for Florida. He’s one of the more accurate deep ball passers in the country.

Of course, his ability to use his legs is a big part of his game. Lagway has run for 114 yards this season in somewhat limited action. Whether he’ll be healthy enough to run remains to be seen.

“I think DJ gets better every day. He’s obviously gained some confidence because he’s, the more weeks that he prepares the more reps that he gets, the more experience he gets,” Napier said. “And then certainly he’s just learning what it’s like out there. I think when you’re a young player and you haven’t played a lot there’s some uncertainty of what the games will be like. So now that he knows he’s learned the value of preparation, he’s learned the value of practice habits and then obviously he’s navigating what it’s like to work your way through injuries at this point.

“All these things are good for him. He will continue to get better and I’ve been impressed with the way he has approached meetings, practice, film study that he does independent of our staff. I think being around Graham (Mertz) has also helped him out in a lot of ways. In general just continue to soak it up and apply what you learn every day.”

If Florida’s going to beat LSU, it probably needs a healthy DJ Lagway.

Third-string quarterback Aidan Warner has struggled in his game and a half of action, to the point that getting much done offensively has been a struggle.

Meanwhile, the Tigers have really struggled against running quarterbacks so far this season. This might be a chance for DJ Lagway to do some real damage.

“I think obviously given their structure and the way they play defense, obviously one of the ways to neutralize that is to use the quarterback, right?” Napier said. “So you’ve seen a number of teams do that. Obviously our situation’s a little bit different, but overall we’re going to do what we need to do to manage DJ and his injury situation.”