Trojans Get Simmons Back

Antuan Simmons participated in his first drills at USC training camp Monday, cleared to play after a round of medical tests.

The senior defensive back missed last season while recovering from complications of abdominal surgery. He practiced with the team in spring and was expected for the start of camp, but when he experienced chest pains last week, team doctors played it safe.

Cognizant of the deaths of Minnesota Viking lineman Korey Stringer and Northwestern safety Rashidi Wheeler, Simmons said, “They didn’t want anything to happen.”

A cornerback for most of his college career, Simmons lined up at free safety, perhaps the final piece in a puzzle in which safeties Matt Grootegoed and Frank Strong have shifted to linebacker.

“We needed another guy at safety,” associate head coach DeWayne Walker said. “When teams try to spread us out, now we’ll have another cornerback on the field.”

Simmons didn’t care where the coaches put him, he just wanted to play.

“I was getting real antsy,” he said.

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USC begins practicing in full pads this morning and the players appeared eager.

The last three days, in accordance with NCAA rules, the team was limited to helmets, shoulder pads and shorts. Coaches took the opportunity to install a little more of the offensive and defensive schemes that veterans first learned in the spring.

Coach Pete Carroll said he wanted to give his players as much information as possible, to the point of “overloading” them. Middle linebacker Aaron Graham did not mind.

“I’m one of those technical guys,” he said. “I like the chalk talks. I enjoy Xs and Os.”

But Strong hit the wall Monday, at times appearing confused about his new duties at outside linebacker. Today, Carroll promises to switch gears, focusing on the physical rather than the mental.

That means more reacting and more contact, another notch up from what have already been up-tempo practices. The team’s first scrimmage is scheduled for Saturday.

“Run and hit,” defensive lineman Bernard Riley said with a smile. “Stop thinking.”

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Martin Janzon has been cleared to practice. However, the NCAA is still assessing his eligibility because the 25-year-old linebacker from Orange Coast College also played in Sweden. . . . Carroll met with the parents of Henry Wallace, who left camp this week, and confirmed the senior linebacker will not rejoin the team. Janzon will take his jersey number. . . . Receiver Steve Stevenson watched practice with an ice bag strapped to his right knee. The injury is not considered serious. . . . Cornerback Kris Richard missed practice with a slight headache after landing hard in practice Sunday. He is expected to return today.