GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A career receivers coach, if you get Billy Gonzales talking about the Florida wideouts he has coached over three different stints at UF, the names start rolling off his tongue.

First time: Murphy, Harvin, Cooper, Baker, etc. … second time: Cleveland, Toney, Grimes, etc. … Third time: Dike, Pearsall, Badger, etc.

With the Gators (3-5, 2-3) heading to Kentucky (3-5, 1-5) for Saturday night’s Southeastern Conference showdown at Kroger Stadium, Gonzales has talked about the Gators’ receiving corps for reasons he’d prefer not to.

The issue is: how many will be available?

When Florida released its first availability report on Wednesday night, Eugene Wilson III and Taylor Spierto joined Dallas Wilson on the “out” list. Add Vernell Brown III and Aidan Mizell from the “questionable” file, and that’s 100 catches, 1,217 yards and nine touchdowns worth of production that might not be available against the Wildcats.

Dallas Wilson suffered a season-ending foot injury in last week’s loss to Georgia, and Eugene Wilson III and Spierto limped out of Jacksonville with undisclosed injuries. Meanwhile, Brown missed his first game of the season and Mizell his fourth.

Brown, who leads the team with 32 receptions for 451 yards, left the homecoming win over Mississippi State three weeks ago with an upper-body injury. He is back on the field in a limited capacity and will be monitored closely the rest of the week to determine his status for Saturday’s game.

“He’s been out running around. He’s done a great job catching balls. He was in shoulder pads today with us, rocking and rolling,” Gonzales said after Wednesday night’s practice. “So, we just gotta make sure, you know, at the end of the day, is he ready to go? Is he not ready to go? I think there’s a big difference between the two once you start getting ready to start banging with the pads on. We’ll figure that part out hopefully in the next day or two.”

Regardless, fifth-year senior J. Michael Sturdivant, a transfer from UCLA who has 17 catches for 235 yards, can expect to share the passing lanes with younger teammates. If Brown and Mizell can’t go, sophomore Tank Hawkins (2 receptions, 16 yards) is projected to start. And with Dallas Wilson out, redshirt freshman TJ Abrams (6 for 97) could crack the starting lineup. The group left behind that trio includes freshmen Muizz Tounkara (2 for 12) and Naeshaun Montgomery (2 for 19), redshirt sophomore Jackson Wade (1 for 10) and redshirt freshman DeBraun Hampton.

Montgomery, who had not played since the season opener against Long Island until getting snaps in the 24-20 loss to No. 5-ranked Georgia, has shown steady improvement, according to Gonzales. Montgomery signed with the Gators as a four-star recruit out of Miami Central.

Running back Jadan Baugh, during a team meeting this week, highlighted Montgomery’s development by showing his teammates a block Montgomery made for Eugene Wilson III in the Georgia game.

“That’s the biggest compliment that you can have,” Gonzales said of Baugh’s recognition of Montgomery. “At the end of the day, when people remember you, and the one thing they say is he was a great teammate, then you’ve done something right.

“He’s improved blocking. He’s done a great job over the last two to three weeks. You never know when a player is going to be ready, and sometimes players will catch it quickly, sometimes they catch it a little quicker. He’s hitting that stride right now. I’ve got complete confidence in him to get ready to go.”

The Gators are ranked 13th in the SEC in total offense (351.8 yards per game) and 13th in passing offense (226.3). The Wildcats, built around a physical and aggressive defense under veteran coach Mark Stoops, are near the bottom of the league in pass defense (14th, 236.8).

For the Gators to exploit Kentucky’s shaky pass defense, quarterback DJ Lagway must rely on a group of receivers missing several of his favorite targets. Eugene Wilson III had his best game of the season a week ago with nine receptions for 121 yards and a 40-yard touchdown.

Stoops, after watching Lagway roll from the pocket and throw a dart to Wilson, remains on high alert when Lagway drops back to pass.

“He’s a guy that you just have to hold on to your seat each and every play because he can make something happen, you know, with his arm or his legs at any given moment,” Stoops said this week. “A very talented player, he’s tough to bring down and he’s got a really great top-end speed and physical.”

Gonzales, looking for his first victory since replacing Billy Napier, has a second opportunity at Kentucky. He is also looking for a few good receivers to emerge from the shadows.

“Everybody has an opportunity to excel,” he said. “You look for the guys to step up. Hopefully, the guys that are behind them, whether it’s Naeshaun, TJ, Tank, Muizz … that haven’t had a lot of playing time. In my opinion, they should be ready for Week 11.”