USC football injury report: Bru McCoy sidelined by fever (8/2)

USC football returned to action in Fall Camp without linebacker Solomon Tuliaupupu and freshmen like Bru McCoy, Kyle Ford and Ethan Rae.

USC football was back on the practice field on Friday for Day 1 of Fall Camp, but the debuts of a handful of young talents remained delayed.

Five-star freshman Bru McCoy, whose transfer saga from USC to Texas and back was one of the wildest stories of the offseason, was not present for the Trojans first practice while he deals with illness.

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“He’s under the weather right now,” head coach Clay Helton said. “He’s in our meetings and doing that, but hopefully his fever will go away here soon and he can get out here.”

McCoy has been dealing with this illness for long enough to be seen by specialists, who put him on an antibiotic that may take some time to clear his fever. When doctors clear him to return medically he will take to the practice field.

The timetable on redshirt sophomore linebacker Solomon Tuliaupupu is less clear. He started camp in the same way he ended the spring, without a helmet or cleats.

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The highly-touted linebacker from the class of 2018 has been sidelined for more than a year by a foot problem. He made a brief appearance in Spring Camp, looking bright in his first practice, but swiftly returned to injured status.

It wasn’t much of a surprise to see freshman arrivals wide receiver Kyle Ford and tight end Ethan Rae limited from practice. Each is coming off a season-ending knee injury from high school.

Both were in uniform, but were relegated to working with a trainer before heading to the weight room early to continue their rehab.

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Defensive lineman Jacob Lichtenstein joined them.

Lichtenstein turned up for Day 1 without his helmet and with an ice wrap on his calf.

There was generally more good injury news to start camp with though.

Safeties Talanoa Hufanga, Isaiah Pola-Mao and C.J. Pollard were all back after missing Spring Camp. So were offensive tackles Clayton Bradley and Bernard Schirmer and defensive lineman Caleb Tremblay.

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Cornerback Olaijah Griffin also returned while nickelback Max Williams made his full practice debut after spending the spring rehabbing his own high school knee injury.

At quarterback, Matt Fink bounced back quickly from minor offseason surgery and was able to practice.

Offensive lineman’s Austin Jackson was also available on the back of giving a bone marrow donation to his sister this summer, but he was kept out of contact.

Unfortunately, Day 1 did result in at least one new injury. Wide receiver John Jackson III took a pass to the endzone, but appeared to tweak his hamstring on the way there. He ended practice on the sideline with ice wrapped around his leg.

USC football injury report

• OUT:
  • DL Jacob Lichtenstein (leg)
  • LB Solomon Tuliaupupu (foot)
  • TE Ethan Rae (knee)
  • WR Kyle Ford (knee)
  • WR Bru McCoy (illness)
• LIMITED:
  • LT Austin Jackson (back)