Gators Provide Updates on Vernell Brown III, Aidan Mizell, Duke Clark

Vernell Brown III, Aidan Mizell and Duke Clark were all previously questionable for Saturday's game against Kentucky.

Florida Gators freshman Vernell Brown III missed last week's game against Georgia. | Kyle Lander / Florida Gators on SI

GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- Wednesday's injury report revealed Florida Gators receivers Vernell Brown III and Aidan Mizell as well as running back Duke Clark could miss Saturday's game due to injury, which would mark the second-straight game Brown III (upper body) and Mizell (lower body) miss and fourth-straight Clark (upper body) misses.

Thursday's report revealed a positive update with none of the three listed, making them all available for Saturday's game against Kentucky.

Brown III and Mizell both suffered their injuries in the win over Mississippi State on Oct. 18, while Clark was hurt against Texas on Oct. 4.

Interim head coach Billy Gonzales previously revealed he was hopeful Brown III, Florida's leading receiver with 32 catches for 451 yards and starting return specialist, would play this weekend after returning to practice.

""He was in shoulder pads today with us, rocking and rolling," Gonzales said on Wednesday. "So we just got to make sure, you know, at the end of the day, is he ready to go? Is he not ready to go? I think there's a big difference between the two once you start getting ready to start banging with the pads on. So, look, he's looked really good in practice, so we'll figure that part out hopefully in the next day or two.”

Both Florida's wide receivers room and running back rotation are short-handed due to other ailments, making Brown III's, Mizell's and Clark's individual returns that much more important.

At receiver, Florida is without freshman Dallas Wilson for the rest of the season due to a foot injury suffered in the loss to Georgia and Eugene Wilson III for Saturday's game with an injury he played through against Georgia.

"You've always got to have a backup plan as far as being able to make sure guys can play. That's development," Gonzales said. "Hopefully we've done a good job of developing the players behind them to put them in a position."

At running back, the Gators have been without Treyaun Webb for the entire season to date due to a hamstring issue that required surgery in the preseason and Ja'Kobi Jackson since the Miami game. As a result, redshirt freshman KD Daniels has emerged as the secondary back behind Jadan Baugh.

"I think he’s done a really good job," Gonzales said. "Obviously having a chance to see him participate over the year. He’s explosive, he’s got incredible work ethic, he’s got a great first step. We feel strong, we feel very strong about him."

Kickoff against Kentucy is at 7:30 p.m. with television coverage on SEC Network.