Joiner No Longer a Captain

Tony Joiner was back at Gator practice on Wednesday, but his status still remains up in the air for Florida’s match up with LSU on Saturday. One thing is for sure if he does make the trip, however. He will no longer be one of the Gator captains.

“My biggest issue was that he was out at a ridiculous hour of the morning,” Urban Meyer said after Wednesday’s practice. “That’s not the kind of behavior I expect out of a captain, so all I’ve done is say that he will no longer be a captain of Florida football. Playing time and all that will be determined later.”

Meyer made it clear that he won’t make a final judgment on Joiner until all the legal facts are in, but if the current felony charge stays, things don’t look good for the senior.

“The word felony is out there,” Meyer said. “I’m assuming that if he’s charged with a felony then he absolutely will not play. We have a set of core values with the University of Florida football team. If you break a core value over the last three years, you’re not going to play. If you correct the mistake, you move on. If it’s not a core value issue then it’s a legal issue.”

Dorian Munroe is expected to start in Joiner’s place if he does not make the trip to Baton Rouge.

“Dorian Munroe is a guy that’s played a lot of football,” Meyer said. “In the SEC Championship Game, he graded out a champion. I’m not concerned about that. Obviously, depth is an issue.”

Behind Munroe would be senior Kyle Jackson, Jamar Hornsby, John Curtis and Bryan Thomas.

“I’m going based on the facts that I know,” Meyer said. “He was out at a ridiculous time of the day and that’s not what I expect from a captain, so as of now he’s not a captain at the University of Florida. Any further disciplinary action is going to be a result of what I found out in the legal side of it.”

LSU on the docket

There’s been so much talk over the last couple days about Joiner’s arrest that some may have forgotten that the Gators face the No. 1 team in the nation on Saturday night. A major factor in Florida’s loss to Auburn last weekend was the play on special teams.

“Special teams has been a strength here for quite a while,” Meyer said. “On Saturday against Auburn you saw two freshmen commit penalties. Someday I’m not going to use the word freshman around here very much. It’s going to be a great thing.”

What do you do with a young team that continues to make mistakes?

“We practice real hard and try to get some young guys to grow up,” Meyer said.

On a positive note, Meyer is feeling much more comfortable about the status of senior wide receiver Andre Caldwell.

“Bubba is close to 100 percent,” he said. “He was not 100 percent last week - about 85-90. I think the old Bubba Caldwell is going to show up. He’s awesome. He’s the leader of the receiving crew. Percy Harvin has great respect for him. Bubba is one of those players that makes everyone around him play a little better.”

Solid base in the Pelican State

The Florida Gators have to constantly battle with Florida State and Miami over instate prospects. And when they do grab an out of state guy, rarely do they come from Louisiana.

“There are a couple of states that you can’t pull them out of and Louisiana is one of them,” Meyer said. “We’ve done a 20-year study here at the University of Florida looking at where the players have come from on national signing day. Louisiana, and I want to say Mississippi and a couple other states, they just don’t leave.”

Notes

Defensive tackle John Brown left practice early with a boot on his left leg. Meyer said the freshman sprained his ankle. Brown missed several weeks of practice at the beginning of the season awaiting clearance from the NCAA and has yet to play a down.

Maurice Hurt left practice with a brace around his neck. Meyer said it was a neck stinger, but he plans on taking Hurt to LSU.

Meyer is familiar with LSU offensive coordinator Gary Crowton who was the head coach at BYU when Meyer coached at Utah. Said Meyer, “He’s got that little two quarterback system that we all like to have.”

Questions or comments? Contact FightinGators.com's Chris Chmielenski