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USC Football's Lincoln Riley On Importance of Physicality: 'You Play Like You Practice'

by usctrojans.com
Aug 23, 2022

Lincoln Riley echoed the same sentiments Tuesday (Aug. 23) as the Trojan greats before him: "You play like you practice."

The Trojans have turned the page after completing their 2022 Fall Camp Saturday (Aug. 20) and have officially started their practice routine for game week. USC's head coach stressed that while camp is over, the intensity must continue.

"A big thing we're pushing on the guys right now is: the game week practices are not a 'save it up and gear up for the game,'" Riley said. "We intend to practice out here, especially on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, the way we expect to play on Saturdays." 

Riley further explained that the team's results on game day are a direct reflection of their practices earlier in the week.

"This is not a, 'conserve and survive and just make it to Saturday'," Lincoln said. "We expect these practices to be intense, physical. We're going to push them mentally. And I thought they responded pretty good here on our first Tuesday."

Notes from USC's Tuesday practice of Mock Game Week:

  • The Trojans started working with scout teams for the first time this season.

    • "It's always a little bit different when you're going a lot of ones-on-ones and good-on-good in fall camp," Riley said. "You start to transition to learning to practice against scout teams and learning to see different looks. So we're a little bit in that transition right now."

  • Riley seemed to have mixed reviews of the team's Monday practice to start the week:

    • "It's been pretty positive, there are some things that we weren't as happy about yesterday that we need to do better. I thought the energy level and all that was great."

  • Assistant head coach and outside wide receivers coach Dennis Simmons shared an update on the competition in his talented room:

    • "We've got guys that are competing," Simmons said. "Now, if we play tomorrow, how would I split the rep distribution up right now? I don't know that it would be half and half. I've got a handful of guys that have earned the right to be able to go out on the field on Saturday." 

  • Riley gave an injury update on true freshman cornerback Domani Jackson Tuesday:

    • "It's definitely short term," Riley explained. "We expect to have him back here in the next few days; hope to have him available for every game. And certainly, I think there is a very solid chance that happens."

    • "Domani did a really good job in camp practices he's been available. I thought he handled it very well. But, you know, he is fighting and he's going to need to because he needs to practice just like everybody else does."

  • Trojans who were not dressed in full uniform: Chris Thompson, Josh Jackson, Domani Jackson, Earl Barquett, Jason Rodriguez, Michael Jackson III, Kyle Ford, Briton Allen, Mo Hasan.

New numbers to know:

  • Defensive lineman Nick Figueroa, who previously wore No. 50, now dons 99. The redshirt senior wore that number during his stint in junior college.

  • Defensive back Bryson Shaw, who transferred from Ohio State as a redshirt junior this summer, wears 27.

  • True freshman running back Raleek Brown sports the number 14.

  • Wide receiver Michael Jackson III, who previously wore No. 13, now wears the number 9.

  • Wide receiver Jordan Addison wears the once-retired No. 3, after Trojan legend Carson Palmer gave his blessing.

  • Redshirt senior defensive lineman Solomon Byrd, who transferred from Wyoming this summer, dons No. 51.

Tuesday's media availability:

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