ORLANDO, Fla. >> With a week remaining before UCF begins preparation for its opener against Florida A&M, the Knights’ coaches are still working to identify a starting quarterback.

While details about the ongoing competition between Brandon Wimbush, Quadry Jones and Dillon Gabriel remains a closely guarded secret, the next few days should provide some clarity, according to UCF quarterbacks coach Jeff Lebby.

“We’re not quite there yet. Today was a big day and tomorrow’s going to be a big day,” Lebby said following practice Friday. “Once we finish out camp and Sunday get in here and continue to review things and look at it over the whole body of camp and make a decision, hopefully at some point. But we’ll be ready to go regardless.”

Lebby said each of the three candidates have shown vast improvement since the start of spring camp, summer workouts and throughout most of preseason camp. Much of that was on display during the team’s two scrimmages.

“I saw execution. Guys understanding what we’re trying to get done on every single snap in every single situation,” Lebby said of the performance by the quarterbacks during Tuesday’s scrimmage. “That’s what we saw early offensively. We got into some situational things later in the scrimmage that weren’t as clean for us, but we were just a lot cleaner and we operated as a standard that we’re trying to operate at.”

Lebby said it’s been awhile since he’s supervised a quarterback competition as close as the one at UCF.

“It’s been a long time — back in 2008 was my last one,” Lebby said, recalling his time at Baylor. “It was Robert Griffin III and Kirby Freeman.

“It ended up really well,” Lebby said with a smile, referring to the fact that Griffin went on to win the Heisman Trophy three seasons later in 2011.

The UCF quarterbacks have grown throughout the process, according to Lebby, but there also is more work that needs to be done.

What will it take for one of the three players to win the starting job?

“We want to call plays and know what’s going to happen before it happens,” Lebby said of the importance of consistency and ball protection. “Whoever does that and continues to do that is going to be the guy that ultimately walks out there on the 29th.”

Quarterback Mack continues rehab

Quarterback Darriel Mack Jr. continues to rehab after having surgery on a broken ankle he suffered early in July. The redshirt sophomore sported a walking boot throughout much of preseason camp, but he recently was seen walking without it.

Lebby said the Knights still don’t have a timetable for Mack’s return.

“We don’t. He can do some stuff throwing-wise as he’s static, but we really don’t have a timeline on the table. But he’s done a good job from a rehab standpoint,” Lebby said. “Hopefully, a little bit ahead of the game, but we’ll see as it plays out.”

Milton still making an impact

McKenzie Milton’s presence has been felt throughout the program even though the junior quarterback is expected to miss the 2019 season while he recovers from a devastating knee injury he suffered during the Knights’ regular-season finale against USF.

He’s particularly been helpful throughout the ongoing quarterback competition.

“KZ’s been great. He’s got great insight on how to play the game when they’re out there. So he’s great in the meeting room, he’s great on the field and he’s been really, really good for all of the guys,” Lebby said of Milton.

Lebby said the staff hasn’t decided where Milton will be on game days, either watching from the coach’s box or the sideline.

“He was in the box for the first scrimmage and he was on the field for the second scrimmage, so as we work through it, we’ll see what fits best,” Lebby said.