Gators' DL Caleb Banks Suffers Setback in Return from Injury

Caleb Banks missed Florida's first two games of the season with a foot injury.

Florida Gators defensive lineman Caleb Banks made his 2025 debut against LSU before exiting the game due to injury. | Kyle Lander / Florida Gators on SI

BATON ROUGE, La.-- Caleb Banks' debut in the 2025 season ended much like his 2024 season - prematurely.

The Florida Gators' senior defensive tackle, who missed last year's Gasparilla Bowl and the first two games of this season due to foot injuries, exited Saturday's 20-10 loss to No. 3 LSU in the third quarter due to injury before returning to the sideline in a boot on his left foot and crutches.

“His foot. Reinjured the foot. We’ll have more information next week," head coach Billy Napier said after the loss.

Florida will be WITHOUT Caleb Banks for the rest of the game it seems pic.twitter.com/MHkGMUVoqr

— The Verdin Verdict (@verdinverdict) September 14, 2025

Since Banks' breakout near the end of the 2024 season, which saw him listed as a potential first-round pick in the NFL Draft whenever he enters, he has been severely limited by the foot issue first suffered in the win over Florida State nearly a year ago.

Banks underwent surgery in the offseason and missed all of spring camp before returning this fall, only to suffer another foot injury that put him in a boot. Initially not believed to be serious, Banks missed Florida's 55-0 win over Long Island and 18-16 loss to USF.

Wednesday's availability report, Florida's first of the 2025 season, did not include Banks, indicating he was set to return to the field for the first time since last November's win in Tallahassee.

"Caleb Banks is a force. He is one of the best defensive linemen in the country," Napier said Wednesday. "I think we will see where he is at. He has been able to practice this week. It’s been a good week. I feel good about it.”

Before his injury on Saturday, Banks recorded no tackles but had multiple pressures and near-tackles in the backfield against the LSU offense, a glimpse of what he provided last season for the Gators.

"Interior push, he’s a big guy, he’s athletic. He can move. For a guy his size, he is pretty nimble," edge rusher Tyreak Sapp said on Wednesday. "He’s a nimble guy. He has quick feet. He is super strong, and almost just as fast as me, and I think that helps, especially for an edge like me having an interior guy rushing like that and pushing the pocket and putting the rush on the quarterback because a lot of quarterbacks, when you got a guy coming down in your face, you’re gonna probably escape outside the pocket. He helps a lot with that. That’s what he does. He does his job and he does it well.”

Should Banks' injury force him to miss more time, the Gators will have to turn to depth pieces in Brendan Bett, who mostly plays nose but could shift over, as well as Jeramiah McCloud and Brien Taylor Jr. to play in elevated roles. Florida was also without sophomore Michai Boireau, who started those two games in Banks' place, on Saturday.