USC QB Kedon Slovis gives encouraging update on his elbow after practice

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USC quarterback Kedon Slovis explained that he was a bit naive in the moment when he injured his throwing elbow in the third quarter of the Trojans' Holiday Bowl loss to Iowa.

While his coaches were fearful about the nature of the injury -- Slovis' arm was extended behind him and just starting to pull through with torque and force as an Iowa defender made contact with it and impeded the follow-through -- the young QB was more worried in that moment about seeing the loose football on the ground.

"I honestly wasn't that worried because I didn't know that much about the arm, but when I talked to coach after the game, to see his concern kind of revealed to me how serious it could potentially be," Slovis said Wednesday after going through USC's first spring practice. "Luckily it wasn't the UCL or something like that and it didn't tear, so very lucky. ...

"I was really more frustrated because I thought I had a touchdown to Pitt (Michael Pittman). Next thing you know we're jumping on the ball, but yeah, I knew something wasn't right."

Slovis, who was diagnosed with a strained elbow that did not require surgery, says it feels right now, though, and that he feels no limitations or any lack of arm strength when he throws the ball downfield.

"No, I feel better honestly. If anything, I've been working a lot in the offseason on developing hip flexibility and mobility just to get my legs under me more. It takes a lot of pressure off my arm," he said. "Because before the injury, my arm was getting pretty tired and we realized that was due to lack of arm care and probably bad fundamentals at times. So we've been working on that and that's what kind of helps it."

Slovis is, however, limited in a precautionary sense, at least for now. Head coach Clay Helton said the staff is only allowing him to throw 150 balls a day, including warmups.

"We are rep-counting him right now. He is healthy. I talked about it to him today, we're rep-counting him to about 150 reps a day. That's warmup, that's everything, and the kid's doing a wonderful job with it. He's putting a lot of rehab into it," Helton said.