Florida Football: Gators Lose DT Joey Ivie For 4-5 Weeks

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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The Gators will be without one of their starting defensive tackles, Joey Ivie, for at least a month.

Well, the injury bug continues to bite the Gators as head coach Jim McElwain announced after Wednesday’s practice that they will be without starting defensive lineman Joey Ivie for 4-5 weeks.

Without Ivie, McElwain expects other players to step up to fill the void including starter Caleb Brantely.

“Caleb’s got to get us a little more probably inside,” McElwain said. “Taven Bryan’s a guy that’s got to step up and obviously Khairi Clark, who’s been playing a bunch anyway. But those guys, we’ll focus on them moving forward. Getting some of those other D-linemen more involved on the inside and on the outside.

“CeCe (Jefferson) is going to be called on to do a little more. Jachai Polite, who’s played some for us. Luke Ancrum. Those guys are going to have to step in there and play with pad level, play with a sense of urgency, do your job, stay gap sound, compete, not guess, you know, all those type of things. The communication when you get new guys in there has got to be utmost.” (SEC Country)

Also, McElwain said that QB Luke Del Rio practiced on Wednesday but is “questionable” for Saturday’s game against Vanderbilt.