QBs throw deep, other takeaways from Florida football practice

Florida football held its 11th practice of spring camp on Tuesday, August 18, at the Sanders practice fields.

The Florida Gators are less than three weeks out from their season opener on Sept. 5 at The Swamp against Florida Atlantic (7:45 p.m., SEC Network). Competition remains open for spots on the depth chart in UF's first fall camp under head coach Jon Sumrall.

Florida will hold its second scrimmage at The Swamp on Saturday, August 22 at The Swamp with a 7:45 p.m. kickoff to simulate the time for the season opener. Then, Florida will treat the last week of fall camp like a game week.

"We'll still do a touch more good on good work and a touch less scout team work," Sumrall said. "But the rhythm of meetings, practice, I want them to feel it. And we're also going to have to at that point start to pare down who's getting reps, how much reps and then we'll start to also pare down call sheet stuff a little bit about how we get game ready.”

Here are three takeaways from the open portion of practice:

Sophomore receiver Vernell Brown III was back at practice for the second day in a row after siting out UF's first intrasquad scrimmage on August 15. Brown made a nice grab on a deep pass as Florida worked on deep patterns.

Bailey Stockton also made an excellent catch along the sideline, tip-toeing to keep one foot in bounds on a pass from Tramell Jones Jr.

Another receiver who is working his way up the depth chart is freshman Justin Williams, a local product from Buchholz High in Gainesville. Williams took reps with the second team during the scrimmage on August 15 and has also contributed on special teams as a punt return option.

With the Gators in full pads, Florida offensive linemen and defensive linemen went head-to-head. Senior Emmanuel Oyebadejo, a Jacksonville State transfer, made a couple of pass rush moves splitting the double team of tight end Luke Hapring and tackle Bryce Lovett.

Oyebadejo, at 6-foot-6 and 299 pounds, is expected to contribute to a defensive end rotation that includes sophomore LJ McCray and senior Kam James, who returned to full drills this week.

Two scouts from the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks visited Florida football practice,

The scouts were intently watching pass rush drills involving edge rushers and defensive linemen as they went head-to-head with offensive linemen.

Kevin Brockway is The Gainesville Sun’s Florida beat writer. Contact him at kbrockway@gannett.com. Follow him on X @KevinBrockwayG1.

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: QBs throw deep, other takeaways from Florida football practice