A new report on the Brenton Cox Jr. injury is promising

Florida Gators fans went to bed uneasy last night, as there was a report circulating the internet that Gators edge defender Brenton Cox Jr. may miss some time in the 2021 season.

That report was from SB Nation’s Dawg Sports’ DawgOutWest, and they said Cox “will miss a significant portion of fall camp and the 2021 season.”

They even added that “Cox suffered a foot injury following a recent scooter accident, and surgery on the injury resulted in a screw being inserted into his foot. Sources close to Cox went on to say that he will miss at least “a few months,” and that his recovery will stretch into the 2021 season.”

This report led to some fear for Gators fans and had people wondering if Cox will be ready for the 2021 season.

However, we did mention that “if this report is accurate,” and it seems it may not have been.

A Sports Illustrated report says that Brenton Cox Jr. is on track for the season.

Sports Illustrated’s All Gators Publisher Zach Goodall put out the fire on Thursday when he reported that Cox is “on track to practice in Florida’s fall camp.”

Goodall said,

"“Florida Gators BUCK outside linebacker Brenton Cox Jr. played through a Jones fracture in his left foot during the 2020 season, according to a program source, his first year on the field for UF after transferring from Georgia.The injury, which was discovered this offseason, led to an early June procedure that involved a screw being placed in Cox’s foot. Cox could be seen at Florida’s June recruiting camps with a boot on his foot while riding around on a medical scooter.Now, according to a source within the program, Cox is out of his foot boot and can walk under his own power. Although he continues to recover from the operation, the plan is for Cox to return to the team and participate in Florida’s fall camp in August. It is unknown if he will be able to strap up the pads for the first day of camp at this time.Despite a recent report from another outlet suggesting that the injury could keep Cox off the field into the 2021-22 season, AllGators’ program source said that Cox’s recovery should not impact his ability to play in week one, barring any setbacks.”"

This is excellent work by Goodall, as always. Lets also laugh that SB Nation’ Dawg Sports said it was a scooter accident, and this report shuts down that narrative. However, while he did put the fire out, I will say that the coals are still hot, in my opinion.

The keywords here are “the plan is” and “barring any setbacks.” And those are the words that scare me. A Jones fracture is an injury I am familiar with, as I have had the same injury. Now, I am not a world-class athlete like Cox, but I do understand how the injury works.

The Jones fracture is a fracture in the 5th metatarsal that can be an annoying recovery. Sometimes players can elect to let it heal on its own, but it can take a very long time to heal. So, since that is the case, some players elect to get surgery on the injury to speed up the recovery, which Cox did here.

Now, players usually recover well from the surgery, but the issue here is that it can become a nagging injury with pain, and sometimes, it even requires another surgery. So, seeing Goodall end with the “barring any setbacks” scares me because setbacks happen a lot with this injury.

Hopefully, the Gators’ plan is going to work because they need Cox. I hope that they do not rush him back, and I would say playing it safe here would be the way to go. Goodall reporting that they expect him back for camp is definitely promising, though, because the Gators will need Cox in Week 3 against Alabama.