UF freshman defensive lineman Matt Patchan was shot in the shoulder Friday night at a park around Tampa.
"He was a bystander and shot in the left shoulder and is expected to fully recover in three weeks," UF Coach Urban Meyer said in a statement.
Details of the shooting are not yet known.
Patchan, a converted offensive lineman, was an early enrollee player this past spring after graduating early from Armwood High.
"I don't know what he was doing there or why they were there," Patchan's high school coach Sean Callahan told the St. Petersburg Times. "I don't know all the details. I just know he went to the Brandon hospital. They left (the bullet) in. It's not serious. It's in the soft tissue."
Callahan told the newspaper that Patchan is now back in Gainesville and seeing doctors at Shands Hospital. Callahan said Patchan was doing "fine."
Patchan was a five-star recruit, according to Rivals.com, and the No. 5-rated offensive lineman. Patchan's father, also named Matt, starred at Miami during his college years.
While UF has a bevy of young defensive linemen, Patchan impressed Meyer in spring drills with his tenacity and energy.
Offensive lineman Mike Pouncey was also moved to the defensive line last season and provided a spark with his tenacious play, a style that the 6-foot-6, 238-pound Patchan has appeared to have picked up.
Meyer went as far as to say that Patchan "will play" during the fall, and the freshman lineman has definitely earned favor throughout the coaching staff with his attitude and work ethic.
"We're talking about a kid who should still be getting ready for the prom right now," defensive line coach Dan McCarney told the Alligator in the spring. "And he's out here going up against future NFL offensive linemen. There's no question he'll play (this season). There might be a possibility he'll be starting in that first game. We've got a lot of time to evaluate yet, but he's shown me enough that there's no question he'll have a major role on our defense."
