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USC wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown said he started hurting in September, but he played through the pain. The initial thought was that he had a groin injury of some sort, but he'd end up visiting with a specialist in Philadelphia after the season to learn he in fact had a sports hernia.

After undergoing surgery to repair it about two weeks ago, it sounds like St. Brown is likely to miss all of spring practice. He said he was given a six-week recovery timetable, leaving four more weeks, but this coaching staff has traditionally tread very cautiously with injuries -- as will become clear the further down the injury list we go.

"It's been hurting all year, since September, and I just played through it throughout the whole season. And then after the season I just took a break and then found out what I had," St. Brown said after watching the Trojans first spring practice Wednesday.

"It was pretty painful at times. I would take Naproxen to get through games sometimes, but some practices I wouldn't practice because it would be too painful. But I got through it."

St. Brown didn't just get through it -- he ranked second on the team with 77 catches for 1,042 yards and 6 touchdowns (plus a rushing TD).

"He really did a great job last season fighting through some pain," Trojans coach Clay Helton said. "Diagnosed it after the season and really gave him the opportunity to get that fixed. It does take a couple months to get over, so we wanted to get that out of the way and we thought it was important to do it now. It really was something that went undetected. [We thought he] had a groin [injury] … kind of hidden, and then we went to a specialist to be able to see what was going on. ... We went to the best specialist that we felt could help, and he's feeling a lot better. It's good to get it out of the way now."

St. Brown was far from the only notable Trojans starter who will be sidelined for spring practice. Here's the rundown:

Redshirt sophomore running back Markese Stepp missed the final six games of the 2019 season after taking a helmet to the left ankle against Arizona. He had what was at the time referred to as a minor surgery to repair ligaments and at the time there was a thought he might still return later in the season.

He even went did some work in practice leading up to the Holiday Bowl before being ruled out, and yet two and a half months later he's still being held out.

"Markese will not practice this spring. He's continuing to rehab, he's progressing nice. He's starting to run and move, but we won't put him in practices," Helton said.

Helton was asked if Stepp had incurred a setback and said he had not.

"No, he's doing good. Anytime that you have that type of surgery, especially a 235-pound back, we want to be ultra careful to make sure it comes back the right way," he said. "And when he gets medically cleared, when he feels comfortable with it and I feel comfortable with it, he's going to be back."

Redshirt senior running back Vavae Malepeai is out at least for the start of spring. He had a minor knee surgery during the middle of the season last fall and did return to play in the last two games.

But two and a half months later he too is now still dealing with some aftereffects of that surgery.

"Vavae is still recovering and still rehabbing. He's not all the way clear yet for practice. You see him out here running, which is a great sign," Helton said. "He's getting healthier and healthier and healthier coming off that meniscus in-season and that chondral defect. It's going to take a little more time."