Chimere Dike says injured Gators QB Graham Mertz is doing well, providing leadership
Eleven days after Graham Mertz sustained a season-ending torn ACL in his knee vs. Tennessee on Oct. 12, the senior Florida Gators quarterback underwent surgery. This week, receiver Chimere Dike, his teammate and close friend, provided an update on Mertz.
“Graham is doing good,” Dike said. “I was able to spend a lot of time with him on Sunday. I think that the way he’s handling it is amazing. He’s handling it better than I would. His character is something that as his friend, I’m really proud of him for. I think that when you are presented with a challenge, you kind of have two ways to go about it. You can sulk, or you can kind of attack it and grow from it. He’s definitely doing the latter. I’m excited to see kind of the success that he has going forward.”
Dike and Mertz have been pals for awhile. Before arriving at Florida (Mertz in 2023 and Dike in 2024), the two were teammates at Wisconsin.
Mertz led the SEC last year in completion percentage (72.9%) and fewest interceptions (3) in 202 while setting career-highs for passing yards (2,903), passing touchdowns (20), completions (261) and attempts (358). A broken collarbone ended his 2023 season in the SEC finale before the FSU game.
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Graham Mertz was having a solid season before his injury
This season, Mertz had upped his quarterback rating (164.1) and completion percentage (76.6%), including third-highest single-game mark in school history (90.5%) against Mississippi State when was 19-of-21 for 201 yards and three TDs. Mertz’s final play as a Gator was a touchdown pass to put his team up 10-0 in the second half against the Vols.
“I hope I can be there for him during this time,” Dike said. “I think that we’re extremely close. We can talk about stuff that maybe we can’t talk about with other people. Whenever he needs me, I want to be somebody that’s there for him. He’s done an amazing job of still being in the locker room and being a guy who DJ (Lagway) can lean on, a guy who the rest of our team can lean on because obviously he’s a big part and a huge leader of our team.”
Mertz hopes to be available for Florida’s pro day next spring.
“That would be amazing,” Dike said. “A guy that you went through all these experiences with, the ups and downs, to be able to go out on pro day and obviously we have a lot of stuff to take care of before then, but that would be a really cool experience. Hopefully he’s able to be back by then. That would be a really special day.”
