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Gators' Trattou shakes off torn tendon

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By DAVID JONES

Florida Today

Published: November 9, 2009

Updated: 11/09/2009 04:00 am

GAINESVILLE - Florida DL Justin Trattou tore a tendon completely off his left shoulder that connects to the bicep in a 23-20 win against Arkansas. He has got one left, he shrugs, so he figured he might as well go ahead and try to play - missing only one game after the injury after doctors expected him to be out at least a month.

"When you are in the game, all the adrenaline, it doesn't affect me as much," said Trattou, who had three tackles in the 27-3 win against Vanderbilt on Saturday. "Once I learned that I didn't need surgery and it was a matter of whether I could tolerate the pain or not, I knew I'd be able to play soon."

The tendon "popped off and rolled down," Trattou said. It will never grow back but he doesn't seem worried.

"It's part of the game," Trattou said after Sunday night's practice. "You can't expect to not get hurt so I just kept pushing through. Every football player has to play through injuries. It's just a matter of how much."

Adds the junior from Ramsey, N.J.: "Honestly I just felt better to be out there than thinking about my arm. It was really hard to watch my team play and not be able to help, more than anything."

Respecting the past

Gators secondary coach Chuck Heater said current coaches and players respect South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier, who won the 1966 Heisman and coached UF to the 1996 national title. The Gamecocks (6-4 overall, 3-4 SEC) host the Gators (9-0, 7-0) on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.

"We all have high regard for Coach Spurrier," Heater said. "I know he loves the Gators. But he's working someplace else and he's going to do everything he can to beat us this week. We have high respect for him."

Alabama bound

UF will play Alabama in the SEC Championship Game on Dec. 5. Tide players made some noise earlier in the season about wanting to play the Gators in a rematch of last year's title game.

"If they want us, they got us," joked UF lineman Mike Pouncey.

But that's not the focus - right now.

"We're looking forward to it but we've got to take it one game at a time," Pouncey said. "We can't overlook South Carolina because they've got a good defense."

Garcia gets praise from Spurrier

Despite Saturday's 33-16 loss at Arkansas, Spurrier gave quarterback Stephen Garcia high marks.

"There are some he could have thrown better and some he threw very well," Spurrier said of the Tampa native. "He played OK, he played pretty well. We could have blocked a little bit better at times for him back there. But only a few throws here and there he could have done a little bit better. But overall, he played pretty well. He played pretty well, I thought."

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