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Florida QB's injury may be worse than thought

Leak took another cortisone shot before loss to LSU

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updated 12:44 a.m. ET Oct. 18, 2005

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Chris Leak’s injured right shoulder could be more severe than he’s willing to admit.

Leak received another cortisone shot in his shoulder before throwing for a career-low 107 yards in a 21-17 loss at LSU on Saturday, offensive coordinator Dan Mullen said Monday.

The junior bruised his shoulder Oct. 1 at Alabama and needed a painkilling injection before taking the field the following week against Mississippi State. He struggled to throw in both games, and then coach Urban Meyer disclosed the injury.

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Leak took another injection in Baton Rouge even though Mullen said he questioned the need for one.

“They just did it as a precautionary thing,” Mullen said.

Mullen said he didn’t think the shoulder injury was to blame for Leak’s problems, though. He said Leak needed to work on his footwork after misfiring often against the Tigers. Leak finished 11-for-30, was sacked four times and routinely threw off his back foot.

“He was hopping around in the pocket and he doesn’t need to,” Mullen said. “Just take your exact steps and throw the ball on time and you’ll be all right. The mechanics had everything to do with timing, footwork and balance.

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“It’s all lower body, getting his feet underneath him, planting and throwing the ball. I think there’s a couple times he was aiming the ball on Saturday. I guess you don’t see that in the naked eye, but when you watch the tape you can really see his motion kind of slow down and him try to aim it in there. ... I think that’s correctable and he’s going to fix that up pretty fast.”

The 18th-ranked Gators next play No. 4 Georgia on Oct. 29 in Jacksonville.

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