GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Florida hosted its first practice of the spring in Year 2 under coach Dan Mullen, opening its doors to the public as the next step in the rebuilding process begins.

The Swamp247 staff was on hand with about 100 or so fans in attendance, and we bring you a complete recap of the day's action.

*** It's just Day 1, but the backup QB plan seems clear ***

You never want to base too much on any one day of spring practice, particularly the very first one, but based on the reps doled out in Day 1 of spring practice it sure seems like Florida is grooming Emory Jones to be the backup quarterback this fall.

That shouldn't come as a huge surprise; Jones was recruited to be the future of the offense and he's a much better scheme fit than redshirt junior Kyle Trask. He also has a lot more eligibility remaining than Trask.

Still, there's always that lingering question about whether the staff views things that way.

After Day 1, it certainly appears to be the case. Jones took the vast majority of the reps with the second team and even mixed in some series with the starters in 11-on-11 work, getting reps ahead of Trask throughout the practice.

He seems to have bulked up at least a little bit, as well, though he could still stand to add more weight, as Mullen mentioned on Monday. Jones also seemed to operate the offense more comfortably than he did a year ago either in spring ball or in fall camp.

Jones didn't struggle with his accuracy quite as much in pass skeleton or 11-on-11 work after some early misfires in the routes-on-air portion of practice (all of the quarterbacks seemed rusty in that first session). That there was improvement and the reps seemed to heavily favor Jones are probably both good indicators of the direction Florida would like to move going forward.

That's not to say that can't change on Day 2, with Trask taking most of the backup reps and mixing in with the ones. However, coaches typically default to the more veteran player if all else is equal.

It seems like things are trending in Jones' direction early on.

*** Big jump from Year 1 to Year 2? ***

One of the big questions asked of Mullen prior to spring practice was whether he believes his team can make a big jump from his first year to his second year. His answer was essentially: Sure, if we work harder than last year.

It may seem like a small thing, but the difference from early spring ball last year to this year was evident in position drills throughout the day.

Swamp247 observed a running backs drill in which the backs are forced to cut different directions between blocking pads and then get good leverage at the second level by staying low and ducking under a metal gate of sorts. Last year, Greg Knox nearly went hoarse the first few days yelling at backs as he heard metal 'ding!' after metal 'ding' as the tops of players' helmets knocked the gate.

On Tuesday's practice, the air was almost eerily silent. No dings from helmets on metal, no real yelling from Knox.

That's the little kind of attention to detail that Mullen and his staff have harped on from Day 1. There wasn't any resetting of special teams drills because guys were lollygagging around or not paying attention.

The Gators seemed ready to roll and focused and practice ran so much smoother than it did exactly a year ago. Noticeably so.

*** Wilson, Davis look as healthy as ever ***

Two of Florida's more talented players were lost for the season last year when cornerback Marco Wilson suffered a torn ACL and running back Malik Davis suffered a broken foot.

Both were dressed out at practice on Tuesday and didn't appear to miss a beat. Though we didn't see much of Wilson in the pass skeleton or 11-on-11 work the rest of the team did (true freshman Chris Steele repped with the starters at cornerback in his place), both looked very fluid running.

Wilson seemed perfectly fine backpedaling at full speed, opening his hips and turning loose and cutting to open field.

Meanwhile, Davis showed now sign of aggravation on the broken foot, not wearing any visible brace or tape and busting a few big runs up the middle during the 11-on-11 portion of practice. That's a great sign for the Gators more than five months before the first game of the season.

Also of note, Brett Heggie looked fully recovered from his injury and repped with the starters at left guard throughout the day.

A few others were absent, though.

Wide receiver Jacob Copeland was not spotted at practice on Tuesday, and Mullen said afterword that he's day-to-day with a hamstring injury. That has to be at least a little worrisome, given that the hamstring injury was what sidelined Copeland for fall camp and the first half of the season a year ago.

Also absent was offensive lineman Noah Banks. He was at the practice but was not dressed out and did not take part.

We reported back in December that Banks had a medical condition that sidelined him during bowl practices and for the bowl game. He experienced extreme vertigo at two practices and the Florida staff is being very cautious right now with his future.

It's unclear if or when he might return to the field, as the Gators tend to deal with such issues with an abundance of caution, and rightfully so.

*** The early status of the offensive line ***

Banks' presence or lack thereof could be a big factor for an offensive line that has to replace four veteran starters. At the very least, even if he wouldn't have been a starter, he would have been the Swiss Army knife of sorts on the line, capable of playing guard, tackle or possibly even center in a pinch.

That's a role that Tyler Jordan filled last year and Florida hoped to have Banks in this year prior to the medical issues.

Without Banks, there aren't any real clear-cut options to flip from tackle to guard in a pinch.

In any case, the first-team offensive line on Tuesday from left to right was: Stone Forsythe, Brett Heggie, Nick Buchanan, Chris Bleich and Jean Delance. The second-team offensive line was Richard Gouraige, Ethan White, Tanner Rowell, T.J. Moore and Michael Tarquin. On the third team, freshman Kingsley Eguakun trained at center, while freshman William Harrod was at right guard.

Of note, White flipped between left guard and left tackle later in the practice with the backups. Moore also worked some at right tackle at one point.

Tarquin looked the most capable of the true freshmen, with White struggling a bit in his first college practice against the likes of Jabari Zuniga and Tedarrell Slaton.

Meanwhile, Rowell had some major issues snapping the ball, not at all unexpected for a defensive tackle converted to center for spring practice. Florida needs redshirt freshman Griffin McDowell (scooter accident, out for spring) back in a hurry to ensure it has some depth at center.

Regardless, it's clear the offensive line is going to be a work in progress this spring.

Other News & Notes

-- Starting quarterback Feleipe Franks looked quite crisp on the day after an early misfire or two during the routes-on-air portion. He was exceptionally on point on the deep seam route and the deep go route down the right sideline, hooking up for big completions a number of times to different receivers. Franks also looks bigger than a year ago, perhaps adding something like 10 pounds to his frame. He looks capable of being a bruising runner now.

-- True freshman quarterback Jalon Jones was quite a bit thinner than expected, perhaps even slighter than redshirt freshman Emory Jones. That was particularly evident in the thigh area, where Emory has more bulk by a good bit. The true freshman Jones struggled with his accuracy throughout the practice in a bit of a rough first day, but several times he did get reps in front of Trask.

-- At running back, reps look like they might be tough to come by for redshirt freshman Iverson Clement. He didn't see any real touches until the very end of the 11-on-11 session, with Davis slotting right back in behind Lamical Perine and sophomore Dameon Pierce also ahead of Clement. Pierce, though, appeared to injure his left shoulder late in the practice, something to keep an eye on moving forward.

-- Kadarius Toney continues to look like the most explosive receiver on the field on a day when the receivers didn't have that many 'Wow' plays as a whole. Toney twice left defensive backs in the dust, one time earning applause from the fans and another time drawing a string of expletives from safeties coach Ron English directed at his guys for stopping early on the route.

-- At tight end, the reps seemed reasonably evenly split. Kemore Gamble probably had the edge in snap count with the "base" offense, but Lucas Krull had some great deep catches and Kyle Pitts was active early and often on slants and shorter routes from a split-out position. Even redshirt freshman Dante Lang was utilized pretty heavily on Tuesday. This will likely be a spot where Florida uses three to four guys routinely again this year.

-- Along the defensive line, a few things of note: Antonneous Clayton is lining up at rush end, as is redshirt freshman David Reese, redshirt freshman Andrew Chatfield, true freshman Mohamoud Diabate, true freshman Jesiah Pierre and, of course, graduate transfer Jonathan Greenard. Luke Ancrum played primarily strong-side end, as did Zachary Carter, though Carter also spent some time inside at tackle.

-- Tedarrell Slaton had at least two sacks in the practice and was active on the pass rush inside.

-- Redshirt freshman Malik Langham worked mostly inside at three-technique, and he is a big, big player. He looks like he could still shed some unnecessary weight or lean down a bit, but he will offer some real size inside.

-- At linebacker, sophomore Amari Burney primarily lined up as the starter along with David Reese. He played very well and showed good coverage skills and recognition toward the flats throughout the day.

-- Aside from one play where senior linebacker David Reese was beaten deep, the linebackers defended the middle seam route to the tight end relatively well throughout the practice. Rayshad Jackson had one near-interception and a pass breakup on a deep ball, while Reese got his hands on another.

-- Perhaps the most impressive single outing of the day came from nickelback Trey Dean, who will be filling in for Chauncey Gardner-Johnson this fall. Dean was all over just about every play his direction, showing the same kind of instincts to snuff out receiver screens that made Gardner-Johnson so effective last year. He was a stud on Tuesday.

-- Also playing at nickelback were sophomore John Huggins and redshirt junior Christopher McWilliams. Huggins had a strong day, including one pass breakup on a nickel blitz, while McWilliams was beaten by receiver Rick Wells on a nice wheel route and a hookup from Kyle Trask near the end of practice.

-- The starting safeties at Tuesday's practice were Donovan Stiner and Jeawon Taylor. Taylor had an interception of Emory Jones when Jones underthrew a corner route and Taylor sat on it underneath to make a nice play. Brad Stewart ran with the second team at safety.

-- Junior safety Shawn Davis was not spotted at Tuesday's practice by Swamp247.

-- One thing that caught our eye in the 11-on-11 session was the sheer pace at which the Gators were operating. There were between 13-20 seconds between virtually every snap, and the coaches were calling plays without a call sheet and using primarily hand signals. That could be an early indicator that Florida feels it might have to run some tempo next year to get the ball out quick to keep Feleipe Franks healthy.