Florida DE Jack Pyburn out for season with torn ACL

Jack Pyburn’s season is over. On Monday, the Florida defensive end provided fans with the details surrounding his injury.

“Thank you to everyone for the prays and well wishes after Saturdays game,” Pyburn wrote on X, formally known as Twitter. “Unfortunately the injury I received on Saturday is a season ending tear to my ACL. I can promise y’all one thing and that is I will be back soon and better than ever. Love this team and my brothers.”

Pyburn went down in the third quarter of Florida’s 39-36 loss to Arkansas on Saturday. He remained on the ground for nearly two minutes. As trainers initially came to check on him, Pyburn took off his helmet while lying on his back before giving it a frustrated toss. After a minute or so, Pybrun was helped to his feet and headed straight to the Florida locker room.

Florida battles other injuries

Pyburn finished the season with 17 total tackles and a tackle for loss. He isn’t the only Gator battling his body. Starting defensive tackles Cam Jackson and Tyreak Sapp were both ruled out with upper-body injuries just hours before Florida’s matchup against the Razorbacks.

The absence of the two defensive linemen came back to bite Florida, particularly in a physical game up front against Arkansas. The loss of Pyburn only made matters worse.

Jackson has logged 25 tackles, a half tackle for a loss and a pass breakup, while Sapp has logged 17 tackles, 3.5 tackles for a loss, 2.0 sacks, two forced fumbles, a pass breakup and a quarterback hurry.

Florida’s defensive line was managing well through the first half, though the absence of a key Arkansas player also made things easier.

The Razorbacks were playing without leading rusher Rashod Dubinion on Saturday, as Dubinion attended the funeral of his grandmother. But the Hogs were bolstered by the return of Raheim Sanders, the 2022 star in the backfield.

Despite the disappointing outcome, head coach Billy Napier is confident in his team.

“I believe in the people in that locker room,” Napier said after the game. “Ultimately what gives me conviction, what do I think about, I think about what I can do to help the players. How can I put them in a position to have more success. How can we build a program where we impact them as people. We prioritize education.

“Our job is to develop football players and field a team that can be competitive and be in contention, and we certainly were competitive today.”