Injured Gibson likely will not play in Under Armour game
West Orange receiver Jayden Gibson likely will not play in Sunday’s Under Armour All-American Game after suffering a slightly pulled hamstring in Wednesday’s opening practice at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports.
The game will be played at Camping World Stadium.
Gibson, the 6-foot-5, 190-pound receiver who will enroll at Oklahoma in January, had planned to take it easy this week.
It didn’t matter. Gibson, who is ranked as the 25th-best receiver in the country according to 247 Sports composite rankings, figured there was no sense in risking greater injury with his pending admission to OU. The injury, however, clouds the rest of his weekend.
Gibson, who was once committed to Florida, spent Thursday’s practice session in street clothes and slides, looking on from the bench.
“Probably not,” Gibson said when asked if he will play Sunday. “It’s my right hamstring. It hurts right now ... It is what it is.
“Hopefully I won’t be dealing with this by the time I get to [Oklahoma].”
FSU’s McCall injured, will play
Lake Gibson’s Sam McCall, the No. 3 safety in the nation according to the 247 Sports composite, said he likely will play Sunday despite not being 100%.
The Florida State signee entered this week’s event with a high ankle sprain, saying the injury happened “a few days ago.”
He’s still intent on playing in the game featuring many of the best players in the country.
“Last night we were still trying to see how well I was going to be able to move,” the 6-foot, 182-pound McCall said. “It was kind of iffy, so we’re going to wait until the game starts so I can play there.
“I’m going to play Sunday, probably a little bit safety spot just to stay back . ... I’ll play back so I can just backpedal.”
The 5-star defensive back said his decision to sign with FSU was easy, holding his commitment to the Seminoles for nearly two years.
“I know we’re going through struggles, but every team goes through struggles sometimes,” McCall said. “We can all be the foundation for the turnaround, but my name is probably going to be the one that people think of ... We all got that mentality to change this program around.
“We going to show April 9th in our spring game who all can play.”
The ‘Noles opened 0-4 in coach Mike Norvell’s second season. They finished 5-3.
15 players for Texas A&M
It’s easy to see why Texas A&M and head coach Jimbo Fisher had the nation’s highest-ranked recruiting class for 2022.
There are 15 players who had signed with the Aggies participating at the All-American game, including top recruit of the 2022 class — defensive tackle Walter Nolen (Powell, Tenn.).
The Aggies, who have signed 27 players, have five 5-star players in the incoming class, two more than Alabama.