Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – On the first day of offseason workouts earlier this month, Gators cornerback Marco Wilson could have sprinted to the weight room.

This time, figuratively and literally.

"I was just ready to grind,'' Wilson said this week.

Wilson's sophomore season was over a few plays into the second game when he fell to the ground and grabbed his left knee against Kentucky on Sept. 8. On the Wildcats' first possession, Wilson suffered a torn ACL.

As if losing to Kentucky for the first time since 1986 was not enough to ruin a weekend, the Gators lost Wilson in head coach Dan Mullen's first conference game.

"I knew right when it happened,'' Wilson said. "I heard it and felt it. I knew it was over."

Two days later, Mullen bemoaned the impact of not having Wilson available.

"To lose one of the absolute best players on your roster is obviously a big, big loss for us,'' he said.

Four months later – and after many grueling hours of rehab as his teammates recovered to finish 10-3 and in the top 10 of the national rankings – Wilson is sprinting, doing ladder drills and has come a long way from the month-long period after surgery when he was on crutches and unable to put weight on his left leg.

He is already envisioning his return to the field this fall, but for now, the 6-foot, 190-pound Wilson has never been so excited for sessions in the weight room. On his first day back working out with the team, he did an upper-body lift with teammate Trey Dean, who as a true freshman moved into the starting lineup after Wilson got hurt.

"Before I couldn't really do that, so I felt like I'm just left out of things,'' he said.

Teammate Jeawon Taylor understands how Wilson felt. He missed spring camp in 2017 after hurting his shoulder in the regular-season finale against Florida State, an injury that required surgery and significant rehab to get back on the field.

"When you are injured, you kind of feel isolated, lonely,'' Taylor said. "When you are working out with your team and they are encouraging you to get better, it kind of brings your spirit up."

Wilson said he will be able to perform some drills in spring camp as his rehab continues through the spring and summer. While the injury was disappointing and prevented Wilson from teaming with CJ Henderson as arguably the most talented young cornerback tandem in the country last season, he did not need a road map to find his way back to the field.
 
Wilson suffered a torn ACL in his right knee his junior season at American Heritage High in Plantation. He returned his senior season to help the Patriots win a state championship and then had a stellar freshman season at UF, recording 34 tackles and leading the Gators with 10 pass breakups.

"I already knew what was up,'' he said. "I knew I just had to rehab and get back on the field. I'm not worried about anything. If I had re-tore the same knee, I would have felt the same way. There's no shockers in the process. You know how you are going to feel. You know your knee is going to be stiff sometimes when you wake up. You've just got to grind through it and over time just trust it and your body is going to get back right."

As Wilson continues to rehab, the Gators will enter spring camp with Henderson, Dean, C.J. McWilliams, Brian Edwards and true freshmen Chris Steele and Jaydon Hill likely in the rotation at cornerback. Dean's emergence helped soften the blow of Wilson's loss in 2018. However, once Wilson returns, Dean is a candidate to replace Chauncey Gardner-Johnson at the star position in the secondary.

Wilson was impressed the way Dean responded to his unexpected role as a freshman.

"When he came in, he really stepped up,'' Wilson said. "To come into college as a true freshman, that's all you want to do. You just want to get on that field. I'm really happy for that kid. I know when I came in as a true freshman, I would hate to be sitting on that sideline. That's the last thing I wanted to do. To see him go out there and live his dream on the field as a true freshman, that's real exciting. He got the experience, so now this year is nothing new to him."

Watching Dean and McWilliams start in his normal spot fueled Wilson in his rehab. It was nothing personal, just the mindset of an ultra-competitor whose father, Chad Wilson, played at the University of Miami and older brother, Indianapolis Colts cornerback Quincy Wilson, starred for the Gators.

If you see Wilson walking around campus now, you would never know he is coming off a serious injury.

"I feel real good," he said. "It's a lot of motivation to see other people on that field and know you can't do anything about it. Going out there [next season], I'm going to be like an uncaged animal. I sat on that sideline too long to not go out on that field and make plays."

Wilson's tunnel vision toward returning to the field has caught Taylor's attention.

"I think he's going to be even better than his freshman year,'' he said.

The Gators will take that.