Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Gators quarterback Luke Del Rio continues to deal with a series of injuries that kept him off the field in 2016.

Florida head coach Jim McElwain announced Thursday that Del Rio, a redshirt junior and the Gators' starting quarterback to open last season, had successful shoulder surgery on Wednesday. The surgery was on Del Rio's left shoulder (his non-throwing one) and he will miss spring camp.

Del Rio was 5-1 as the starter in his most extensive playing time since coming out of high school in 2012. He began his college career as a walk-on at Alabama, and then transferred to Oregon State for a season. Del Rio came to Florida in the summer of 2015 and sat out the season. He edged fifth-year senior Austin Appleby in fall camp to earn the starting job going into last season.

Del Rio's best performance came in a 45-7 victory over Kentucky in his second career start. He completed 19 of 32 passes for 320 yards, four touchdowns and one interception, marking the first time a UF quarterback threw for 320-plus yards and four touchdowns in a Southeastern Conference game since Rex Grossman 15 years ago (2001 against LSU).

Del Rio suffered a knee injury in the season's third game against North Texas, which forced him to miss back-to-back games at Tennessee and at Vanderbilt. He returned as the starter in back-to-back wins over Missouri and Georgia, but in a 31-10 loss at Arkansas on Nov. 5, Del Rio suffered a shoulder injury. He was able to finish the game but did not play the rest of the season as Appleby took over.

Del Rio, who earned his degree in December, was available to play in the Outback Bowl if needed according to McElwain. The Gators defeated Iowa 30-3 in the final game of Appleby's career.