Redshirt junior cornerback C.J. McWilliams is out for the season with a torn Achilles, Florida coach Dan Mullen confirmed during his press conference Tuesday.
“That’s a tough one,” Mullen said. “Non-contact injury. It’s a shame, because it’s one of those early in practice, planted, then drove, and felt the pop. It’s a shame. That’s what’s so tough is guys that work so hard. You know, they put all this work in the offseason and then get (injured).”
While McWilliams saw limited time when he first arrived at Florida, he worked his way into the rotation last season, playing in nine games with two starts and recording 16 tackles and four pass breakups.
He was expected to be a starter this season.
Because McWilliams will be sidelined for the season, Florida’s secondary will need extra help from corners CJ Henderson and Marco Wilson, as well as Trey Dean, Amari Burney and John Huggins.
Huggins has missed all of fall camp because of a family issue.
“Well, there’s a lot of different things we’re doing there. You have Burney can do it, John Huggins, you could go as far as putting a Marco Wilson there. Within a base defense, like I said, Burney can be there in base. There’s a lot of things we can do personnel-wise to move guys around,” Mullen said of replacing McWilliams.
However, without McWilliams, the Gators’ secondary lacks depth and experience, with true freshmen backing up Henderson and Wilson.
