USC coach Clay Helton said on his weekly Sunday media teleconference that quarterback Kedon Slovis is still in the concussion protocol and that he'll have a better sense for his potential availability on Tuesday, when he next meets with reporters.
"I got to see Kedon today, he's doing good, doing good. But he's got to go through all the necessary steps and so I'll alert everybody on Tuesday what our status is at that moment. Right now it's unclear," Helton said.
Slovis was knocked out of USC's 30-23 win over then-No. 10 Utah just two plays in Friday night. He stood in the pocket with the pass rush bearing down on him to get off an 8-yard completion to Amon-Ra St. Brown, but Utah defensive lineman Leki Fotu plowed into the QB's sternum and took him down to the ground hard. The back of his helmet slammed against the turf and Slovis stumbled on his first attempt to stand up.
He sat on the field being attended to by the Trojans medical staff and then was checked out again after leaving the game. He was not medically cleared to return, though he seemed in good spirits after the game while entering the locker room with his parents.
Helton did not specify how much practice Slovis would need to get in this week to be able to start at No. 17 Washington on Saturday.
"We're going to play it day by day," Helton said. "… The good thing is both Matt and Kedon have had two training camps to be able to be within the system. Basically we're looking at 50 practices a piece … Kedon and Matt will both be in all the meetings, they'll get all the game plans, as well as [walk-ons] Brandon Perdue, Trevor Scully and Scott Harris and be able to learn the game plan. We'll see where it is day by day. … I'll have a lot better feel on Tuesday where it stands."
Down to their last available scholarship quarterback Friday night, the Trojans got a clutch performance from redshirt junior third-string QB Matt Fink, who passed for 351 yards, 3 touchdowns and 1 interception in the win.
Helton was asked about the depth concerns if Slovis is unavailable -- after already losing starter JT Daniels to a season-ending knee injury -- and whether he'd have to do anything to bolster the position.
"Right now we have Brandon Perdue, we have Scott Harris and we have Trevor Scully. Brandon will have a package that he can understand, and then we'll see where Kedon is going in through the week and go from there. We've got three other quarterbacks on campus that we'll have trained to be able to go in if needed," Helton said.
Slovis had to talk his mother Lisa into letting him play football growing up, with the promise that if he ever got a concussion that would be it. He got one in a game last season for Desert Mountain High School (Scottsdale, Ariz.), but by that point he was already a USC commit with a promising football future ahead.
That bright future arrived much sooner than expected following Daniels' injury in the second quarter of the season opener. Slovis finished that game and made his first start the following week against Stanford, completing 28 of 33 passes for 377 yards, 3 TDs and 0 INTs to earn Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week honors.
But his experience as USC's starting QB has run the full gamut so far, as he followed that up with 3 INTs in an overtime loss at BYU and then his first injury/health setback as a Trojan.
