Napier provides injury update on Devin Moore, who was out Saturday
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — While Jaydon Hill had a breakout performance in the secondary on Saturday, another Gators cornerback was unexpectedly sidelined against Missouri. True freshman Devin Moore missed his first contest of the season after playing extensively in each of Florida’s previous five games.
UF coach Billy Napier provided an update Monday on Moore, who was not included on the team’s injury report last week.
“Got a little banged up late in practice on Wednesday. Nothing major there,” Napier said. “He’ll be kind of a work in progress this week, but he re-aggravated an injury from the past and one that made him unavailable for the game.”
UF will provide Moore’s status for the LSU game on Wednesday night following practice, but his injury doesn’t appear to be serious. He’s displayed some natural coverage ability at corner and has six tackles on the year.
The 6-foot-3, 198-pound freshman has been serving as the backup to Jason Marshall Jr., and Hill’s return to the starting lineup two weeks ago should provide the Gators with enough depth should Moore miss more time.
Devin Moore impressive from the jump
After co-defensive coordinator Patrick Toney joined Napier’s Florida staff, the first recruit he called was Moore. The top-100 cornerback decommitted from Notre Dame shortly afterward and signed with the Gators two weeks later.
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Moore enrolled early and made a strong impression in the spring. Prior to the season, Toney indicated that he would be involved in the cornerback rotation.
“He is extremely mature for his age. He is smart. He picks it up fast, very athletic, has great length. He has just done a tremendous job in spring football, and then continued that throughout the summer program,” Toney said of Moore at the start of fall camp. “I think he will play a factor in our secondary for sure. Been very excited working with him. He is great to work with.”
Sure enough, Moore received first-team reps during the season opener and was on the field for Amari Burney’s interception in the end zone. He made just one tackle against Utah, but it was a key play according to Marshall.
“He was thrown in the fire. He came up with that big tackle to keep the receiver in bounds, so I felt like he had a pretty good game. He grew a lot. He grew tremendously, just his understanding of the game,” Marshall said. “He’s got great ball skills and size.”
