Wednesday practice report: Key injury updates, final thoughts for USC-Utah

USC has some notable names on its injury list as it prepares on a short week to host No. 10/11 Utah on Friday night in the Coliseum.

Coach Clay Helton provided his final updates on those players Wednesday after practice, including some noteworthy developments.

-Wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown has been dealing with a sore foot this week and returned to practice Wednesday after being sidelined the day before. His status for Friday is still to be determined, according to Helton, but it sounds likely that St. Brown will be available.

"He practiced today, he looked good and we'll play it by ear. But he went out there today, felt really good, felt a lot better than the first couple days -- just a sore foot -- but we'll lean on where he's at tomorrow and his confidence and make his decision," he said.

If he were sidelined or limited, Helton confirmed that freshmen Drake London and John Jackson III would be the primary replacements at that inside receiver spot, as Velus Jones is now working behind Michael Pittman on the outside (since Devon Williams entered the NCAA transfer portal last week).

-Nickel Greg Johnson has been cleared through the concussion protocol and should be good to play vs. the Utes. He was limited to just 10 snaps last Saturday at BYU while Chase Williams finished out the game there.

"He's medically cleared. He's ready to go. He's practiced the last couple days, has looked really good and he's ready to go," Helton said.

-Although veteran defensive end Christian Rector told reporters Tuesday he was "excited to play on Friday and help my team," while noting that he felt "more or less" full strength on his injured ankle after sitting out the BYU game, Helton wasn't ready to confirm his availability.

"He's fighting through the ankle. He's practiced this week. I'm going to sit down with him tomorrow and kind of visit with him and see where he's at confidence-wise. He's been medically cleared to practice and play, but there's also a confidence level," Helton said. "You're a 275-pound man that's leaning on a 300-pounder going full speed, there's a difference. So he and I will sit down tomorrow, see where it's at, and it will be more of a game-time decision."

-Meanwhile, Helton indicated that redshirt freshman starting cornerback Isaac Taylor-Stuart is "questionable at best" while still going through the concussion protocol. It's unclear when Taylor-Stuart was hurt as he had a beautiful pass break-up in the end zone on USC's final defensive play in overtime on Saturday -- before the offensive interception that sealed that 30-27 loss at BYU.

"We'll see where he is over the next couple days. But he'll have to get medically cleared first," Helton said.

If Taylor-Stuart cannot go, that would put 5-star true freshman Chris Steele in position for his first career start.

Steele had already steadily seen his playing time increase with each week.

After playing 14 snaps in the opener vs. Fresno State and 22 snaps vs. Stanford, Steele -- who was splitting playing time with Taylor-Stuart -- played 34 of 75 defensive snaps at BYU and graded out as the Trojans' fourth-best defensive player (a 69.6 grade), according to PFF College.

"Chris has played a lot of ball. Basically game 2 and 3, if you go back and watch that tape, man, he's been lights out, Helton said.

Steele was involved in giving up a couple long completions against Fresno State -- one a shared responsibility with Williams, the nickle, down the seam on a 34-yard touchdown and he later got burned for a 52-yard TD.

Against BYU, though, PFF had him credited with giving up only 1 completion for 6 yards on 4 targets his direction.

Asked what has led to his increase in playing time of late, defensive backs coach Greg Burns said "basically just [doing] what he's supposed to do.}

"He's working hard, he's understanding the system and he's playing well," Burns said. "Just attention to detail. He understands the system, it's just me putting him in and just giving him a chance to showcase what he can do."

We'll have more on Steele's development in a separate story.