Florida Gators head coach Dan Mullen provides quarterback injury update

Florida Gators head coach Dan Mullen on Monday said that redshirt freshman quarterback Anthony Richardson is receiving treatment on his hamstring and is expected to practice this week.

Richardson entered the season as the Florida Gators’ backup quarterback, with Emory Jones manning the starting role. Richardson has shattered expectations in recent weeks, emerging as a star off Mullen’s bench and leaving Florida fans wanting to see more.

In Saturday’s matchup with South Florida, Richardson broke loose for a 70-yard touchdown run, but he appeared to be holding his hamstring as he crossed the goal line. He did not return to the game after sustaining the apparent injury, which was later diagnosed as mere hamstring tightness.

In Florida’s 42-20 win over South Florida — as a backup, no less — Richardson has become the first FBS player in the last 25 seasons to rush for over 100 yards, pass for over 150 yards and complete every pass he threw.

Through two games behind Jones, Richardson has completed six of 11 passing attempts — including a perfect three of three for 152 yards on Saturday — for a total of 192 passing yards on the season. He’s thrown for two Florida touchdowns and no interceptions, too, along with an eye-opening 275 rushing yards and two touchdowns on just 11 rushing attempts.

In light of Florida’s success under Richardson, fans have pressured Mullen to use Richarson as a starter rather than Jones. But Mullen has yet to crack.

“Obviously, Emory is our starter as we get the experience, we roll the guys through,” Mullen said after Richardson’s Week 1 breakout for Florida. “We did that tonight and it was good to see them both make some really explosive plays.”

Jones, by comparison, is not having as great a start to the season. He’s completed 31 of 49 passing attempts through two games, good for a 63.3 completion percentage, and he’s thrown for 264 yards. Additionally, Jones has thrown two touchdowns and four interceptions.

Is Richardson’s emergence a problem for Florida?

When Jones was first outplayed by Richardson, ESPN’s Paul Finebaum questioned whether it would be a positive story for the Gators moving forward.

“I sat in a meeting,” Finebaum said on a weekly radio appearance on WJOX in Birmingham, “and heard Tim Tebow talk about [Richardson] for an hour on Friday afternoon. And Tebow had to do it somewhat carefully, since he was really talking about himself about 16 years ago. … Whether it’s a good problem for Dan Mullen to have or not, I don’t know. But they are bountiful at that position.”

Jones waited four years for his chance to be Florida’s starting quarterback, making it a complicated situation, as Finebaum alluded to. Formerly a four-star recruit, Jones, a redshirt junior, was forced to sit behind two different quarterbacks in his time with the Gators, first serving as the backup to Feleipe Franks, then holding a similar role behind Kyle Trask, who has since been drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

In his first-career start, Jones completed 17 of 27 pass attempts for 113 passing yards, one passing touchdown and two interceptions. Richardson, who came on late in that Week 1 contest, only completed 3 of 8 passes for 40 yards — but his seven-carry, 160-yard, one-touchdown rushing performance left Florida fans eager to see more. That, according to Finebaum, is what begs the question of “whether it’s a good problem” for Mullen.

Through two games, however, Mullen has stood by his assertion that the plan has always been to filter between the two quarterbacks. It remains to be seen whether he will promote Richardson over Jones ahead of the Florida Gators’ crucial matchup against Alabama.