Land O’ Lakes TE Kent Taylor (broken left hand) to miss at least 2 weeks, including Pasco game

Posted Aug 30, 2011 by Bart O'Connell

Updated Aug 30, 2011 at 06:10 PM

LAND O’ LAKES—Doctors for Land O’ Lakes TE Kent Taylor told the blue-chip college prospect that he will miss a minimum of two weeks with a broken left hand sustained on his final offensive play against Anclote last Friday.

This means Taylor, a senior, will not play in at least the Gators’ first two regular-season games, non-district match-ups this Friday against Zephyrhills and next Friday against arch rival Pasco. He could return for the Class 6A-District 6 opener against Hernando.

Both Taylor and Coach Brian Wachtel told the Tampa Tribune after Tuesday’s practice they were pleased with the results of the X-ray, having feared he would be out longer.

“It’s a big blessing—no surgery needed,” said Wachtel. “It was a clean break, so we’re just going to let the healing process take place and go from there.”

Taylor will be re-evaluated on Sept. 12, nearly two weeks prior to hosting Hernando on Sept. 23.

“I thought I was going to miss three, maybe four games,” Taylor said. “It’s great that it’s only going to be two.”

The injury also is not expected to affect Taylor’s status as one of the consensus top prep tight ends in the country, including Rivals.com, which has Taylor rated the No. 1 tight end recruit in the nation. Taylor previously told the Tribune on Aug. 11 that his final four schools he will choose from will be, in no particular order, Florida, Alabama, Georgia and Penn State.

Taylor was in good spirits at practice Tuesday, wearing some light wrapping around the hand which he said got caught in another player’s jersey while blocking against the Sharks.

When asked about missing the game against the Pirates, Taylor believes the Gators remain strong at the position with fellow senior Jackson Cannon taking over the tight end duties. And he was confident in the outcome.

“Even though I’m not playing, we’re still going to beat Pasco,” Taylor said. 

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