Mike Norvell reveals WR Ja'Khi Douglas will miss time to start 2023 season

Florida State will open the 2023 season by playing a premier non-conference game against LSU. Ahead of that game, head coach Mike Norvell says that the team is going to be healthy for the most part. However, the Seminoles will be without wide receiver Ja’Khi Douglas.

This comes after several players were banged up to some extent during Fall Camp.

“Health-wise, going into this week, I like where we are,” Mike Norvell said. “I think we’re going to get a few guys who have had some bumps and bruises along the way in Fall Camp, I think we’re gonna get most of them back here for this week.”

Despite that overall positive update, Norvell did have to deliver the bad news that Ja’Khi Douglas is going to miss not just the LSU game but the first couple of games to open the season.

“Wasn’t on the depth chart, Ja’Khi Douglas will miss a few games here early in the season. Fully expect him back relatively soon, but he will miss for sure this first contest — probably the first couple as we head into this season.”

Beyond the LSU game, Florida State has a massively important game against Clemson in late September. The Seminoles are going to want to get Douglas back for that game and be as healthy as possible.

A four-star recruit in the Class of 2020, Douglas started his career as a running back before making the move to wide receiver. He’s played in 27 games overall, making 31 receptions for 494 yards and five touchdowns. He’s also still a threat to rush the football. That’s production Mike Norvell will now need to find somewhere else.

Last season, Ja’Khi Douglas was also hampered, only able to play in seven games.

Mike Norvell knows that players’ situations can change during the season

One thing that Mike Norvell wants to make clear to his players is that their situations can change over the course of the season.

“It’s something that’s built, and it’s continual. Obviously, we always tell guys, ‘What you see is where you are,’ and it’s who you are, so you know, it can change day-to-day, based off how you want to respond to the situation. But I know this team, you know they love to work. That’s something that, even when it always doesn’t feel good, the willingness to push. They absolutely care about each other. That’s where you see the challenge. You talk about family, well there’s times family, they get into it with each other. They push each other. They try to hold each other to a standard. That’s something that’s necessary on any team that desires to be great. You have to have that,” Norvell said.

“So I mean, I like what I’ve seen. I like what they’ve put on display. But for us, we’ve got to continue to improve and get better, and ultimately that’s a great challenge, so it’s the thing that I love about the journey. You see teams that embrace that, and then continue to work to get better at all those little things.”