Gators QB Aaron Philo Dealing with Injury

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Heading into a crucial road game at No. 7 Texas, the Florida Gators may be without their starting quarterback.

Redshirt sophomore Aaron Philo, who has started every game this season, is currently dealing with a shoulder injury, which he suffered late in the loss to South Carolina, and is expected to be listed as questionable on the team’s Wednesday availability report, according to multiple reports.

CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz was first to report.

Helping lead the Gators to a 4-2 start, Philo has thrown for 1,351 yards, nine touchdowns and three interceptions, while adding another two touchdowns rushing. However, his impact has taken a downturn over the course of Florida’s back-to-back losses, with just two total touchdowns and two turnovers — both of which came against the Gamecocks — as the Gators offense has averaged just 18 points.

Head coach Jon Sumrall and offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner addressed Philo’s recent play — one of multiple issues Florida’s offense is currently facing — this week.

“He’s a tough, mentally really tough kid,” Faulkner said. “Like I said, he wouldn't be here if he wasn't really tough. So he's handling that fine.”

Philo has also been far from the only issue. Offensive line play has taken a downturn, with the Gators giving up three sacks last week as Philo has been unable to stretch the field vertically.

"I'm not saying he played perfect. He didn't. But it's really easy to critique the quarterback position when we don't block the edge rusher very good," Sumrall said. "You're getting ready to get smacked, and you have to speed up your process, and you don't get the opportunity to take a good picture of the coverage. But yeah, there's plenty of things he's got to work on, cleanup, correct."

Should Philo ultimately miss Saturday’s contest, backup Tramell Jones Jr. would make his first career start with true freshman Will Griffin and multi-year backup Aidan Warner as his backups. Jones Jr. has played in both of Florida’s losses, going 11-for-13 for 126 yards, one touchdown and one interception over the last two games.

Sumrall confirmed on Monday that Jones Jr. was receiving snaps with the starters this week.

“When we put him at the end, in those situations, I want to make sure we continue growing because I believe in Tramell,” Sumrall said. “I've said this publicly: I think Tramell can be our starting quarterback here, and we can win football games."

Florida will release its first availability report of the week at approximately 8:10 p.m. ET, with reports to follow at the same time on Thursday and Friday. The Gators’ game day availability report will be released at approximately 10:30 a.m. ET on Saturday, with kickoff to follow at noon.

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