USC Suffers Loss on the Line

USC regarded defensive tackle as its area of greatest concern before the Trojans practiced for the first time Thursday.

But it did not take long for some of the focus to shift to another part of the defensive line.

Sophomore end Jeff Schweiger, who was expected to rotate with senior Frostee Rucker, broke a bone in his right foot during the morning workout. He said doctors told him he would be out at least eight weeks.

Schweiger would possibly miss four games in that scenario. He is scheduled to undergo surgery today, but he said he would confer with his father Thursday night.

“I was running and I just felt it. I couldn’t put any weight on it,” said Schweiger, who had 4.5 tackles for losses last season.

The 6-foot-4 Schweiger said he reported to camp in top shape and weighed 268 pounds, 12 pounds heavier than what he played at last season.

“Big guy, I guess, and just couldn’t take it,” he said.

“I never had problems with my feet.”

Coach Pete Carroll said junior Rashaad Goodrum and sophomore Chris Barrett would compete for Schweiger’s spot.

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Quarterback Matt Leinart participated in the entire workout and appears fully recovered from January elbow surgery.

“I was a little rusty and the balls were kind of high sometimes, but for the most part, I know my arm strength is going to come back,” the Heisman Trophy winner said.

Freshman quarterback Mark Sanchez also worked out with returning players during the morning session of the split-squad workouts because he had a test in a summer-session class in the afternoon. Sanchez benefited from having attended spring practice and then participating in summer workouts.

Carroll said Sanchez impressed after overcoming jitters.

“I said, ‘Look, we’ve been at practice 15 minutes, dude. Let’s be real about this. You’re going to feel a little behind the thing,’ ” Carroll said. “He threw some beautiful balls before the day was over and he threw some lunk-head balls. He’s way ahead of what we probably should ever expect a guy to be at this time.”

Carroll said sophomore John David Booty would work in the morning with the veterans today.

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Senior tight end Dominique Byrd will not participate in a full workout until next week, but he was happy to be back on the field.

Byrd, who had arthroscopic knee surgery five weeks ago, missed spring practice to concentrate on academic issues. He also sustained a broken jaw in the spring when he fought with flanker Steve Smith over a debt Smith owed for losses sustained playing video games.

Byrd’s jaw was wired shut and he said he dropped from 252 pounds to 229 in late May. He said he weighed 247 pounds Thursday.

“I just kind of think of it as a family situation that hit the streets -- that hit the newspapers,” Byrd said of the fight. “I can’t say that I feel bad for it. It’s something that happened and I move on from there.

“It may have helped me in some ways. I dropped a lot of weight and I was able to rebuild my body as I wanted to. So it’s kind of a blessing in disguise.”

Byrd and Smith said they remain good friends. “We hang out all the time,” Byrd said.

Asked if the two still play video games, Byrd said, “We played a couple times. No bets though.”

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Offensive lineman Thomas Herring said he sustained a season-ending knee injury two weeks ago as he fled from a group of men near his home in South Los Angeles.

“I live in an area where there are gangs and some people thought I was going somewhere,” said Herring, a 6-foot-6, 335-pound freshman. “They started chasing me and I took a little detour. I jumped a wall and tore my knee up.”

Herring said he would have surgery in two weeks and redshirt.