The Gators continue to move forward with a plan to start John Brantley at quarterback on Saturday against Georgia if there are no setbacks with his injured right ankle.
So far so good according to offensive coordinator Charlie Weis, who said Brantley is progressing better than he expected after two days of practice.
“We're cautiously optimistic it's going to be him,'' Weis said Tuesday. “You can come in [Wednesday] and it could be all swollen up and he's not walking. You can't just go in just planning on just him. We're gearing towards all those options.''
If Brantley does suffer a setback, Weis said true freshman Jacoby Brissett will start. Brissett has started the last two games in Brantley's absence.
Brantley has not played since the final moments of the second quarter in Florida's 38-10 loss to Alabama on Oct. 1 when he was sacked by the Crimson Tide's Courtney Upshaw.
Florida has struggled offensively without Brantley, scoring 17 points in 10 quarters. The news Monday that head coach Will Muschamp listed Brantley as “probable'' for Saturday's game was greeted enthusiastically by Gator fans.
“All those people who wanted him out of here can't wait to get him back. Isn't it funny how that story changes?'' Weis quipped. “The big part of running the offense is being able to throw the ball on time efficiently and effectively. That's one of the reasons why the arrow's pointing up, because he's had a pretty productive week so far.”
In other notes from Weis' press conference following Tuesday's practice:
--He said he was surprised to hear that tight end Gerald Christian and wide receiver Robert Clark planned to transfer. Christian caught a 45-yard touchdown pass earlier this season against Kentucky; Clark does not have a reception but has been used on special teams.
“They practiced last week every day,” Weis said. “You think if you were going to quit, you'd quit last week [during the bye week]. That caught me off-guard. You wish them well and you move on.”
--Weis said the bye week allowed the offense to look at some of the major issues that has plagued it the past two and a half games since Brantley was injured. He didn't address specifics, but said the unit is more advanced than at the end of the 17-6 loss to Auburn.
“We had a lot of things to clean up after the last three games where things didn't go very well, especially offensively,'' Weis said. “There were several areas we addressed. You can't fix everything [in a week], but you can move in the right direction by fixing or working on a lot of the major things. There wasn't anything we identified that we don't feel better about now than we did a week and a half ago.''
He knows what kind of attitude the Gators must take into Saturday's game.
“You can't play like you're a team that is floundering around .500," Weis said. "You have to play like you're a team that's looking to run the table. That's how you have to play."
--In his final game as New England's offensive coordinator in February 2005, the Patriots won Super Bowl XXXIX against the Eagles at Alltel Stadium, now known at EverBank Field.
Weis returns to the site of his third Super Bowl triumph for Saturday's Florida-Georgia game. He doesn't know much about the rivalry, but he remembers the 2007 game when the Bulldogs celebrated a touchdown by running onto the field.
“I just remember watching that game a few years ago when 9,000 guys were partying in the end zone,'' Weis said. “I wasn't here, but I'm sure there's a lot of people that might remember that.''
