Dan Mullen discusses reason behind sidelining Anthony Richardson

Florida head coach Dan Mullen discussed his reasoning behind sidelining freshman quarterback Anthony Richardson on Saturday versus Missouri.

“Anthony has been banged up, had more injuries at practice this week, so he was limited in his opportunity to practice,” Mullen said of Richardson, who hurt himself prior to the South Carolina game while dancing in the team hotel.

It’s unclear exactly how much Richardson’s injury healed and whether he felt comfortable playing Saturday. Regardless, Florida only utilized one quarterback in Saturday’s contest. Emory Jones finished with 20 for 32 with 261 passing yards, coupled with 17 carries for 45 rushing yards.

Jones and the Gators’ effort fell short with the Tigers coming out on top 24-23 in overtime.

Dan Mullen told the media on Monday of game week that Richardson was “up and down last week but back to 100% now.”

Richardson, a four-star member of Florida’s class of 2020, has shown glimpses of potential in his redshirt sophomore season, utilizing both his accurate arm and immense athleticism.

Last season, as a true freshman, Richarson took a redshirt year after appearing in just three games. He completed one of his two passes for a touchdown and an interception. This year, things have been much different.

Many thought Jones to keep the starting role year. However, after he struggled early on, Richardson was thrust into his first in-game action in Florida’s first game of the year. He completed 3-of-8 passes in that contest against FAU, good for 40 passing yards. More impressively, he had seven carries for 160 yards and a rushing score.

Overall, in six appearances, Richardson has completed 57.9% of his passes for 474 passing yards, five touchdowns and five picks. He also has for 374 yards on 40 rushing attempts — averaging 9.4 yards per carry — and three touchdowns.

Richardson briefly removes Florida from bio

After the game’s final whistle blew and Anthony Richardson did not see the field, he removed all mentions of the University of Florida from his Twitter account.

Perhaps Richardson was unhappy with his utilization — or lack thereof — in Columbia on Saturday. Richardson later changed his Twitter bio back to what it was before, adding “Quarterback at The University of Florida” to his bio.

After a draining 24-23 overtime loss to Missouri, there are more questions regarding Mullen’s future at the helm. Florida fell to 5-5 and will now play Florida State, with the winner clinching eligibility for a bowl game.

On3’s Simon Gibbs contributed to this report.