The Florida Gators began its second half of spring camp after its week-long break last week.
on Tuesday commenced the second half of its 2026 spring camp after a week-long break last week, with the media invited to cover a 40-minute portion of warmups and on-air individual drills before a press conference after practices.
"Practice six today looked like we had spring break last week because we did. Felt like a little bit like, sometimes you come out of a bye week and you’re trying to get the car restarted when it’s been off for a few days. It felt like that a little bit today to me," head coach Jon Sumrall said. "We will have a bye week during the season so it’s sort of dry run on what that looks like for our guys to some degree. We’ll do in more in the bye week than were allowed do with them during spring break. But some of our guys probably had a little too much fun spring break off the way some of the practice looked."DL Joseph Mbatchou - upgraded from rehab in indoorLast week, Dallas Wilson was seen at practice for the first time as he continues to recover from a recent flare-up from last year's season-ending injury. On Tuesday, he was seen without a boot for the first time but remained out of drills. Sumrall re-emphasized that Wilson could play if it were a game week but that they want to be "smart tough, not dumb tough.". "I just have an abundance of caution for him, and I want to see him play football games in the season we're doing. We can make sure we get him fully right. I'm not rushing. I got pretty good pulse of what kind of player he can be. Does he need to practice reps to work? Yes. Does he need to get healthy more? Yes."Meanwhile, both defensive lineman Joseph Mbatchou and corner Dijon Johnson returned to practice as full participants. Mbatchou was held out of practice two weeks ago, while Johnson has been non-contact for all of spring as he continues to recover from a season-ending knee injury."Missed him. Big, big dude. We need him to continue to grow. We need him to really ascend quickly, but it was nice having him back and healthy, and it was not a major deal," Sumrall said. "We felt like we put him on a shelf. We could give him the right, right amount of time for recovery to be ready to go the rest of spring." Meanwhile, Johnson is one of four key returners at corner alongside Cormani McClain, J'Vari Flowers and Ben Hanks III and has emerged as a vocal leader on defense. "I’m still starting to get my feet wet a little bit, so I don’t want to say like, I’m like, back to where I want to be because I’m always looking for improvement, looking for how to be the best I can be on the field,". While competition is fierce, both quarterbacks and Sumrall emphasized that while one will be the starter, they are also competing with each other, not against each other. "They’re challenging each other, but they’re doing it in a healthy, competitive way," Sumrall said. " I tell them all the time that you don’t elevate pushing someone else down. Really if someone else elevates it can help you elevate. I like how they are competing with each other and not against each other." Philo, meanwhile, detailed his transfer from Georgia Tech to Florida despite not being guaranteed the starting position.. "So when you're competing with somebody, competing with multiple people, you're gonna push yourself to be better than you would be if it was just given to you. So I'm a firm believer in competition makes everybody better." Sumrall also detailed what he liked out of each's individual games, pointing back to Philo's familiarity with the offensive system while saying he is a good decision-maker and has "some leadership traits that are intangible," while Jones Jr. has a "natural moxie" and "quiet confidence" while also being able to make every throw. Jones Jr., last season's backup, detailed his growth from being a true freshman, saying that he has been able to take advantage of being fully healthy this spring, while diving into his decision to return to Florida despite a coaching change. "I've always wanted to be a Florida Gator. I dreamt of playing here. I was a fan when I was smaller," he said. "Coach Sumrall and Coach Faulkner gave me an opportunity to come and compete. That's the only thing I really wanted to do, and that's what they said. So I was going to stay - that was really a no-brainer for me." The two quarterbacks will take the next step in the competition on Saturday for the team's first scrimmage. "The depth chart is very fluid. There has to be depth chart for who goes out there with which group. They’re both sharing reps if you will with the same number of pitch count with each group," Sumrall said. "Both guys are doing some things that excite you and I feel like we could play winning football with either."Dylan Olive. Bio: Dylan Olive is a contributing writer at Florida Gators on SI from Key West, FL. He is a recent graduate from the University of Florida. When not writing, he is likely spending time with his wife and dog or watching the New York Yankees or Giants. Twitter: @DylanOlive_UFIowa Player Trolls Florida’s Todd Golden With Petty Celebration in His Face After Upset WinIowa’s Alvaro Folgueiras Shared Sweet Moment With His Mom After Game-Winning Shot
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