Florida football suffered a more than tight loss at No. 9 Missouri on Saturday. The Gators may also be without starting quarterbackc for their Rivalry Week matchup against No. 4 Florida State.
Florida (5-6, 3-5 in SEC play) needs to beat the Seminoles to reach bowl eligibility, but it may have to do so without Mertz. Near the end of the third quarter, he took off running and returned favoring his shoulder. He was then shown being led to the locker room before ESPN reported that he bypassed the locker room and went straight to Missouri’s facilities for X-rays.
X-rays indicated a collarbone injury, which will most certainly keep him out of the FSU game.
“Graham has a non-displaced fracture of the collarbone, so he’ll be out for a little bit,” Florida coach Billy Napier said. “We’ll have more information whether it’s surgical or not, we think right now the belief is it may not be but we’ll need to get more images to make that decision.”
When asked if the injury would hold him out of the FSU game, Napier replied, “We’ll see.” I will let you know on Monday. I don’t want to speak to anything about which I don’t know all of the facts. I just know he isn’t available. We believe it’s a major injury.”
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The first-year starter left the game with the Gators trailing 23-21, having completed 14 of 21 throws for 183 yards and two touchdowns with an interception before being replaced by backup Max Brown.
Mertz is in his first year at Florida after transferring from Wisconsin, where he started three seasons.
Mertz then exited the game and was shown being taken to the locker room, but the ESPN broadcast later reported he was bypassing the locker room and heading straight to the Tigers’ facilities for X-rays. He later was shown back on the sidelines, but in street clothes with his arm in a sling.
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