Jared Verse shaken up, escorted to locker room vs. Wake Forest

Florida State‘s preseason All-American EDGE Jared Verse has gone to the locker room with the Seminoles’ training staff vs. Wake Forest.

Verse was shaken up during the first quarter during a play on second down and the training staff appeared to tend to his eye. He was tended to by training staff while on a knee and walked off the field on his own before the training staff escorted him to the locker room.

Florida State led Wake Forest 10-0 at the end of the first quarter, but Verse exited the game with his ‘Noles up 7-0. Quarterback Jordan Travis took a 13-yard rush into the end zone during FSU’s opening drive of the game to break the opening tie.

Verse re-emerged from the locker room with his helmet during a second-quarter FSU offensive drive — a good sign that he would return to the game. He was on the field and disrupting the pocket on the ensuing defensive drive.

Based on preseason expectations, it’s been a disappointing season for Verse, who might’ve been a Top 20 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft but opted to return to Florida State for the 2023 season. Many suspected he could be the best edge rusher in the country — but he has not been able to replicate his 2022 success despite Florida State entering Week 9 undefeated.

Last week, Verse had three pressures and a pair of stops as the Seminoles outlasted Duke 38-20. He has just 2.5 sacks through seven games entering Week 9 after recording 9.0 last season in 12 games. Before halftime, he recorded his first sack of the afternoon — which could be the beginning of Verse ending his final season in Tallahassee on a high note.

Florida State already down in numbers vs. Wake Forest

A trio of Florida State players are out today against Wake Forest, including star receiver Johnny Wilson.

The Tallahassee Democrat was the first to report that Wilson, Destyn Hill and Hykeem Williams, did not participate in the team’s warmups prior to the Wake Forest game on Saturday morning and appear to be out.

Wilson has dealt with injuries throughout the season, missing a few games. He missed the team’s second contest against Southern Miss, then missed the Syracuse game two weeks ago with an injury. He returned last weekend against Duke, but then he suffered a leg injury that knocked him out of that contest.

Wilson has been a major receiving threat for quarterback Jordan Travis when healthy. He has logged 25 catches for 415 yards and two touchdowns on the season.