USC defensive coordinator Alex Grinch talked to reporters after practice Wednesday, sharing his vantage point on the story of linebacker Tuasivi Nomura finishing a series with a grisly compound break of his finger earlier this season.
Head coach Lincoln Riley first shared the story Tuesday, thinking it happened in the Fresno State game, painting quite a visual.
"Broke his finger during the middle of a play. Actually, like compound, bone sticking out. Didn’t tell anybody. Played three more plays with the bone sticking out of his finger. He did. It was unbelievable. And played well, like had two tackles," Riley had said.
Grinch noted it was an "extreme" example of what the coaching staff is always preaching to the players about toughness.
"What a great visual. That's one of those things where you're talking about, it's in the moment, none of us know what's happening. You see a couple clips on video and he kind of looks down -- this is after the fact. In the moment, I don't know if we'd even care in the moment just trying to get a stop, but to his credit he didn't care," Grinch said. "You talk about guys going hard all the time, and one of the things we've been real cognizant of is making these guys aware there's one version of you -- there's this. We don't need the Tuesday version of you, the elite you, the tough version, the physical version and then there's the not-so-tough version, there's the fatigued version.
"That's one of those things we've been really working through. ... What a great visual for a guy who only knows one way to do it."
Grinch also talked about the matchup with Arizona's talented wide receivers this week, the Trojans' tackling issues vs. Utah, the importance of getting more production from the rush end position and more.
Watch the full video of his post-practice interview here and scroll down for a complete transcript of his comments.
What's your concern about the linebacker depth?
"High level of concern. Any time you don't feel like you're 1,000-percent full strength, but it's also an opportunity for guys to step up and we expect them to. We've had guys out over the course of the season, either in game or preparation prior to, and by and large those individuals have taken advantage of those reps. That's the expectations for those guys that may [have an] increased role in most instances, maybe a new role in others, so guys have got to step up. And the guys around them have to step up as well."
How have you seen Nick Figueroa adjust to his new role at rush end?
"He's done a good job and we need more production at that spot. There's been times we've had it, there's been times we haven't. What we don't do is we don't just simply say let's hope we have it this coming Saturday. Part of that is trying to get the best 11 guys on the field. Through seven games, there's been moments where I feel like we've done that, and there's been other moments where I'm not sure that we have. So that's kind of been the motivation. Which is also by design in some ways for other guys to, from a competitive standpoint, step up. Now, whether he continues in that role is going to be predicated on performance, like anything else. And probably through this first stretch of the season, probably haven't been able to do enough from a depth standpoint, but most of that stems from him doing his job, No. 1, and having some level of production. But we need the production to go up."
