Florida CB Brown making gains after years of pain

NCAA Football Betting Lines

09/10/2010 -

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) -Just hours before Florida's season opener, cornerback Jeremy Brown was still wearing a protective boot on his right foot.

A teammate landed on him in practice earlier in the week, leaving Brown on crutches and out of the starting lineup against Miami (Ohio).

``Everybody kept saying, `Maybe you should just let it go and sit out this game,''' Brown said.

No chance. Not now. Not after all he had been through.

Brown spent his first two years at Florida battling a debilitating back injury. He had two herniated discs, inflamed joints, nerve damage and enough pain that he ``couldn't even put on socks and shoes.'' Compared to that, playing though a sprained ankle was easy.

``I worked so hard to try to come back,'' Brown said. ``I worked so hard for this moment, and here it was and I'm thinking I'm not going to be able to play. ... I just had faith. Then when it got closer to game time, I just said I have to go. I have to do what I can to help my team.''

Brown came up big, too.

Filling in for injured starter Moses Jenkins, Brown intercepted a pass late in the fourth quarter that ended Miami's slim shot at a comeback. Now, with Jenkins sidelined indefinitely because of a dislocated elbow, Brown will make his first career start Saturday when the eighth-ranked Gators (1-0) host South Florida (1-0).

It has to go smoother than his back injury.

``I'm just thankful to have this opportunity,'' Brown said. ``I would rather be on this end than the other end. ... It definitely puts a little pressure on me to step up. It's time to turn it up a little bit and get ready to go.''

Brown was ready to go as a freshman.

Coach Urban Meyer likes to point out that Brown, a third-year sophomore from Orlando, was ahead of Janoris Jenkins when he got hurt in 2008. Yep, the guy who made just about every All-Freshman team might not have gotten on the field had Brown not tweaked his back.

Brown did, and Jenkins took advantage. Jenkins started 25 games the last two years and emerged as the team's best man-to-man defender.

Brown could only think about what might have been.

``Sometimes when you have a serious injury, you second-guess and you wonder a little bit,'' he said. ``But my confidence is back and I'm past my injury.''

It wasn't an easy road, though.

Brown had a minor back injury in high school, but nothing that kept him off the field. He came to Florida in January 2008 and made strides in spring practice and summer workouts. But when fall practice rolled around, his back starting to tighten up. It kept getting worse, too.

Ice, heat, message therapy, nothing worked. Team doctors eventually ran tests that showed disc damage.

``When the MRI showed that my discs were messed up, I though, `Wow, this is serious,''' said Brown, who had his L4-L5 discs repaired. ``I've had a million procedures done, but we've got it taken care of,'' he said.

It took two years to get right, though. Brown spent countless hours in the training room, in the pool and hooked up to a back machine.

Nonetheless, there were times none of it helped.

``Whenever it would get bad, I would stay in bed for days,'' Brown said. ``I literally mean days. There were consecutive days I just couldn't even get up. ... There were times I couldn't even get out of bed, move. I just passed out on the ground. It was bad.''

It's better now, healthy enough that Brown beat out Moses Jenkins during training camp. Jenkins started the opener only because of Brown's foot injury. Brown didn't stay on the sideline long. He got a painkilling injection before the game and came on in the third quarter.

``He came out and played 31 plays and graded out a champion in his first ever game played at Florida,'' Meyer said. ``That's a heck of a story.''

It's just getting started. Brown will face South Florida's Evan Landi and Dontavia Bogan on Saturday. They combined for eight catches for 178 yards and a touchdown last week against Stony Brook.

The Gators are confident Brown is ready for the next test.

``All the things that he's been through with his back just shows that if you keep going and keep working hard good things will come to you,'' safety Ahmad Black said.Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

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