Gators eager to play after restlessly waiting for Hurricane Irma to pass

Florida wide receiver Josh Hammond, left, is among the Gators looking forward to playing another football game after a hurricane-induced break. (Tony Gutierrez / AP) Josh Hammond’s family has no power, but he knows it could have been worse.

“Other than the power going out, the house is fine,” said Hammond, a sophomore receiver on Florida’s football team. “It's just out of their control."

The Florida football team returned to practice on Tuesday, nearly a day after Hurricane Irma finished passing through Gainesville, causing minor flooding, downed trees and power outages.

Some players, including Hammond, whose family lives in Hallandale, a city about 20 miles north of Miami, treated practice as…