Montrell Johnson, Graham Mertz suffer apparent injuries against Tennessee
Florida Gators starting running back Montrell Johnson left the Florida-Tennessee game in the third quarter with an apparent lower-body injury. Senior quarterback Graham Mertz was also helped off the field on the same drive after throwing a touchdown pass to Arlis Boardingham.
The senior running back was hip-drop tackled at the end of a 20-yard rush and was unable to get up right after the awkward tackle. Johnson was helped off the field by trainers and was seen trying to get his leg loose on the sideline.
Mertz went down shortly after Johnson’s injury. The senior threw a touchdown pass to Arlis Boardingham before limping and hitting the turf.
Mertz was 11-of-15 for 125 yards and a touchdown, while also losing a fumble. He had managed the game well and just led the first touchdown drive of the game before leaving. Mertz was taken into the injury tent where he was checked out by doctors.
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After a brief time in the tent on the sideline, Mertz limped back to the visiting locker room with Florida’s head trainer.
Johnson suffered a knee injury at the start of fall camp. He underwent surgery but was able to come back for the season opener against Miami and hasn’t missed a game since.
“My mindset was still kind of messed up after they told me what it was ’cause I never missed a college game in my life. I was like, I don’t want to miss practice, I don’t want to miss something,” Johnson said about his mindset after the injury in fall camp. “I was like, Man, what am I going to do? Mom said, The only thing you can do is go out there and work every day. It’s going to pay off. You might come back early, you might not. You got to live with it.”
Johnson was Florida’s leading rusher with 12 carries for 85 yards.
Gators Online will continue to update this breaking news story.
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