Carter's Corner: Gators Seek to Overcome Loss of D-Lineman Lyons
Wednesday, August 14, 2024 | Football, Scott Carter
That was the case for the Gators on Saturday afternoon. Early in the team's first scrimmage of preseason camp, third-year sophomore defensive lineman Jamari Lyons crumbled to Florida Field in obvious pain. You didn't need a medical degree to understand that whatever happened to Lyons' left leg was not good.
The final diagnosis, according to Coach Billy Napier, is a season-ending broken left ankle that required surgery and will include months of healing for the 6-foot-3.5, 304-pound player out of Viera (Fla.) High.
Transfer defensive lineman Joey Slackman said it was a difficult to see Lyons, projected in the mix behind Caleb Banks at nose tackle, to be injured.
"Jamari is the heartbeat of our room,'' Slackman said Tuesday after practice. "It was a tough day, but kind of the message we gave to each other after he went down was, he's always going to bring 100 percent everyday no matter what, that's who he is as a person and we're grateful for him in that regard.
"When he went down we just tried to embody everything that he was about as a player, and I thought we did a good job of bouncing back and being there for him, especially on the field. We're doing everything we can for him."
Lyons started one game a season ago and played in 12, recording 20 tackles and 2.5 tackles for loss. In his absence, Napier said several players will rotate along the defensive line if needed to find the right combinations.
Veterans Slackman, Tyreak Sapp and Desmond Watson can help fill the void on the interior line, and a group of underclassmen that includes sophomore Kelby Collins and freshmen Michai Boireau and D'Antre Robinson have a shot to make a statement for playing time in the final two weeks of camp. Junior-college transfers Tarvorise Brown and Brien Taylor Jr. are also among the position group.
"That's an area where we've got some players,'' Napier said. "But I think those roles will be a little bit different. There will be some adjustment. But the biggest thing was Jamari can play nose and end. That's where we're going to have to shuffle the deck a little bit."
The Gators will miss Lyons on the field. Off the field, they have his back as he recovers.
"It was really hard for the whole entire team," Banks said. "I was crying, Dez was crying, Cam was crying, Sapp was crying. It was hitting us hard.
"I went to talk to him when he was in the hospital and he was just like, 'Keep going. If it was you, I know you would want me to keep going,' and he just told me that everything was going to be OK and he'd be back. Hopefully from here we can keep doing what he was doing. I know he'll be there to support us and he wants us to just keep going and not let his injury slow us down or stop us from being as great as we can be."
