Florida coach Urban Meyer said Monday that his decision to hold an unprecedented Sunday night practice after the devastating loss to Ole Miss was based on a pressing need to get around the players, deal with the loss as a team, then get ready to move on to the Arkansas game this week.

“I had to get around the players,'' Meyer said. "We all had to get around those players and kind of have closure to a bad day.It was impressive the way they came out. We had a solid team meeting and made it real clear it’s a long football season.’’

Since Meyer arrived four years ago, Sunday's have been reserved as an off day. The team practiced for approximately 90 minutes, and Meyer said there was also a team meeting where players and coaches had an opportunity to get some things off their chest.

"I liked the way we approached it,'' Meyer said.

The Gators are taking today off, so players were off-limits to the media.