QB Jones shows off poise, confidence
GAINESVILLE – UF freshman Emory Jones is taking baby steps as the Gators’ quarterback race begins.
A new offense, new teammates and new coaches is a lot for a 17-year-old to handle.
Jones is not performing at the speed that made him the centerpiece of coach Dan Mullen’s first UF recruiting class. But Jones, who enrolled in January instead of finishing his senior year of high school back in Georgia, has shown the necessary poise and confidence while juggling so many moving parts.
“He’s a high school kid coming in just cool and collected a little bit. Not panicking,” UF cooffensive coordinator John Hevesy said Tuesday. “You see him in there trying to make his reads, trying to do things. Everything is a little slower than it is for the two older guys that have been around.
“… But to me, just impressed with how he’s handled his mannerisms in the huddle. On the line of scrimmage, he’s done a
very good job.”
How Jones continues to progress will be the key to whether he can challenge redshirt sophomores Feleipe Franks and Kyle Trask for playing time next season.
Following the team’s third of 15 spring practices, Hevesy said beginning next week coaches will get a better read on what UF’s quarterbacks really can handle.
“The first five days is kind of hectic for everyone,” said Hevesy, who also coaches the team’s offensive line. “Practices seven through 15 is really where you start watching what does each kid process. Can they process the information given to them, the fundamentals, the technique and all that stuff?”
Jefferson shines
Van Jefferson, who transferred from Ole Miss, is making an early impression.
Jefferson, a 6-foot-2, 181-pound redshirt sophomore, arrived in January with more experience and production than his new teammates. He totaled 87 receptions for 967 yards and four touchdowns during his two seasons in Oxford.
“I expect that out of him. He’s making plays right now,” said co-offensive coordinator Billy Gonzales, who also coaches receivers. “Oneon-ones, he’s getting matchups, he’s running by defensive backs, he understands a little bit more, he’s got a little bit more experience.”
Whether Jefferson is available this season remains to be seen. But he could become eligible immediately if the NCAA were to grant him a waiver due to the penalties imposed on Ole Miss.
Gonzales also said sophomore Kadarius Toney’s explosiveness, junior Freddie Swain’s work ethic and Ohio State transfer Trevon Grimes’ physical tools have stood out among the team’s receivers.
The 6-foot-5, 214-pound Grimes, however, is expected to sit out next season under NCAA transfer rules.
“Tre is learning to play like a big kid,” Gonzales said. “He’s big and strong. If he can learn to play and be consistent with his hands, he’s definitely going to be a guy that’s going to be able to help us.”
O-line penalties
The Gators’ offensive line ended practice in an unusual position after putting the team’s offense in a bad one time and again Tuesday.
After the unit committed five penalties, UF linemen did the “three-legged dog” drill as punishment. Hevesy made young men weighing more than 300 pounds get on two hands and one leg and hop forward.
“My biggest thing with them is discipline,” Hevesy said. “I can’t stand offside and we’ve done it too many times. That’s just mental discipline and focus on what you have to do.”
Mental mistakes have been a long-standing problem with a unit that struggled during three seasons under former coach Jim McElwain. False start penalties cost UF’s offense time and again, with the 2017 Gators the third-most penalized team in the 14-team SEC a year after drawing the most flags in the conference.
Hevesy will cut his unit a little slack as it learns a new offense. But he will continue to punish mental mistakes.
“It’s a matter of listening to what you have to listen to and that’s just focus, and again it’s mental toughness,” he said. “... Again, I’ll be more concerned towards the end [of spring drills] if it’s going on than I am right now.”