Sanchez plays some soft ball
LOS ANGELES - Tossing around foam footballs can be fun, and USC's Mark Sanchez turned himself into a fairly efficient left-handed quarterback, but there's no substitute for real on-field action.
Sanchez, out since he broke his right (throwing) thumb in an Aug. 12 scrimmage, returned to practice Wednesday and said he expects to be healthy enough to be the backup Sept. 15 at Nebraska.
"If not, I'm going to knock out one of the trainers," Sanchez joked. "I'll be ready to go."
One day after he threw a Nerf football to help get his arm back in shape, Sanchez made an unexpected return to practice and looked fairly sharp in 7-on-7 and individual drills.
"It might be a little sore, maybe tonight or tomorrow," Sanchez said, "but I think more than anything it's in my head. Even when I drive my car, when I turn the key I'm always doing it with my left hand. I'm opening doors with my left hand. I just have to get used to using it again and get it out of my head."
As a precaution, Sanchez likely won't start taking snaps until next week, but he felt strong enough to practice and split backup snaps with Aaron Corp.
Trojan tidbits
Carroll confirmed that freshman Kristofer O'Dowd, who replaced the injured Matt Spanos, will remain as the Trojans' center.
Tailback Marc Tyler, cleared to participate in full-contract drills for the first time since he broke his leg last year at Oaks Christian High, had his first full-team practice.
Running back Joe McKnight is back to practicing with a knee brace. Carroll said the brace will remain until next week but that Joe McKnight won't need it for the Nebraska game.
Wideout Patrick Turner (shoulder) should return to practice Monday, but cornerback Josh Pinkard (knee) is waiting for a brace to arrive and likely won't practice until next week.
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