USC defensive line coach Chad Kauha'aha'a acknowledged Tuesday what had become apparent over the last week -- that the Trojans had decided to shut down redshirt senior defensive end Christian Rector until his injured ankle is full strength again.
Rector sustained a high-ankle sprain in Week 2 against Stanford, sat out the next game at BYU and then had tried to play through it in the games following, before sitting out practice last week and missing the win over Arizona on Saturday night.
Rector has not practiced this week either, and while Kauha'aha'a says it's "day to day," it's also clear the Trojans have decided the veteran DE needs to show he's fully healthy before he attempts another return.
CONTINUED BELOW
**Want to keep reading? Take advantage of our FREE TRIAL through Dec. 7 to get full premium access to more stories like this and all of our exclusive content as we cover USC football and recruiting from all angles. Use promo code FREEUSC at sign-up.**
"Kind of the way he's playing right now. He's not playing like how he should be, like we know he's capable of playing," Kauha'aha'a said of the impetus for shutting Rector down for the time being. "I've said this before about Christian, I really appreciate his toughness, his mental toughness coming out there, it's his senior year, he's a captain. I've got to give him credit for that, but at the same time I was doing him a disservice and I was also doing the team a disservice by getting him out there.
"And I think we both agreed -- myself, him, coach [Clay] Helton -- that it would be best for all of us that he gets that ankle to where he needs to be. Christian understood that. It took us all to come together to get that agreement because like I said, you have to pull him off the field. He wasn't going to come off the field, but I think it was a smart choice for him and us."
