Mark Sanchez Dislocates Knee at USC Practice

It was a bright sunny afternoon on the campus of USC. That is, until about 3:45, when a horrendous cloud settled over the players and the crowd of spectators at Howard Jones Field.

The team had just come onto the field for the start of warm up drills. Mark Sanchez was loosening up, doing a crossover drill when his left leg suddenly gave way and he collapsed. Trainers rushed to his side. Fifteen minutes later Sanchez was carted from the field, his left leg completely bandaged to immobilize it.

After the initial shock, practice went on as scheduled.

The thing that amazed me was how quickly the entire team, especially the offense, was able to put the injury aside and get down to business.

In this case, the business at hand was a hard, spirited practice that defied the hot August weather and the storm cloud that was left hanging over the team’s head.

Of course, no one knew how serious Sanchez’ injury might be. But the two quarterbacks behind him on the depth chart stepped right up as they would if this had happened in a game. After an understandably slow start, both Mitch Mustain and Aaron Corp acquitted themselves very well.

After practice Mustain spoke about his performance. "I thought I did a pretty good job today. I’ll have to keep that up. I’ll just keep going with it. I’ll have to learn (the playbook) a little quicker now."

When you play for a team like USC, you need to expect the unexpected and be ready to step up.

"I think it’s a natural response when someone gets hurt," Mustain said, "We learned that last year when JDB (John David Booty) went down. It’s your opportunity. It’s not something you plan for, but it is what it is…We have to take over and let the team know we can do it."

The #3 quarterback, Aaron Corp critiqued his play after practice. "I did okay. I started off kind of slow with the initial shock of that whole thing. Then I kind of settled down," Corp said.

He sure did if you call three touchdown passes settling down. Two went to Travon Patterson, for 50 and 40 yards.

Starting where he left off this spring at the annual Huddle scrimmage at the Coliseum, Corp was asked how much more comfortable he feels this summer compared with last spring.

"Much more comfortable," he replied. "I’ve felt pretty comfortable the past two, three days. Hopefully I can keep it up."

Asked if his play might be any different now with the Mark Sanchez injury, Corp said, "Yes and no. I’ve always competed out here. I always did my best." And what about the playbook? How is he coming along with that? "Fine, I just keep studying. Nothing’s new now. Everything’s coming along."

Speaking of coming along, there’s the matter of Mark Sanchez’ injury.

Several hours after practice ended, Kevin Carden of Scout.com reported that Sanchez dislocated his left kneecap. Fortunately, it went right back into place and there are no other complications.

Sanchez will begin rehabilitation on Monday and his status will be day-to-day. Doctors attending Sanchez did not speculate on how long the quarterback would be sidelined.

There were other injuries as well. I saw freshman receiver Brice Butler hobbling along the sidelines on crutches with an ankle injury. Freshman offensive tackle Tyron Smith has an ankle sprain and will be out a week.

Linebacker Kaluka Maiva was on the sidelines with an ice pack on his left shoulder. Hopefully, it’s nothing serious. I also saw tight end Anthony McCoy limping gingerly to the sidelines after a PAT.

More this weekend, when the team goes in full pads.