Pharoh Cooper limited in practice, but on purpose

Junior wide receiver Pharoh Cooper is going to have a lighter fall August workload than his teammates.

“Certainly, he’s a guy we are not going to take into the first game injured hopefully,” wide receivers coach Steve Spurrier Jr. said Friday. “He doesn’t need to get hit a lot so we won’t do a lot of live action with him at all.”

Cooper suffered a mildly sprained hand during the first week of fall practice but Spurrier doesn’t expect it to limit him much.

“We are limiting him a little bit, but when he’s in there we are coaching him hard,” Spurrier Jr. said. “He wants to be a better player than he was last year so we are pressing to coach him and teach him.

Cooper will play “a little bit” in the team’s three fall scrimmages “but not much,” Spurrier Jr. said. When the games start, it will be a much different story, as the Gamecocks plan to play him at all three wide receiver positions this fall.

“There are certain plays we know we want to throw it to a particular position so you have to move him,” Spurrier Jr. said. “There are certain plays against certain defenses that you know one position has a chance to get more balls. Sometimes that is the outside receiver so you’ll see Pharoh outside some.”

Cooper was named first-team All-SEC last season after catching 69 passes for 1,136 yards.

Still splitting reps

All four quarterbacks split repetitions during Friday’s practice, and freshman Lorenzo Nunez got extra work during a young players scrimmage session at the end of practice.

“They have all gotten equal reps with different groups,” Mangus said. “We will scrimmage a little bit more (Saturday) and go from there.”

Interior line issues

Junior offensive lineman Cody Waldrop is 100 percent healthy after sitting out much of spring practice with a sprained knee. Waldrop, who is listed as the second-team center behind Alan Knott, is working at both center and guard this fall, Waldrop said.

“Everything will be up to the coach when it comes time to play, but everything is going good right now,” Waldrop said. “I can play anywhere in the interior. I like all three positions inside.”

On the move

Junior quarterback Perry Orth has increased his mobility after dropping more than 10 pounds during the summer workouts, and quarterbacks coach G.A. Mangus has taken notice.

“He’s not going to be a guy that you are going to call his number to run the ball 15 times a game, but he worked really hard and trimmed down,” Mangus said. “He’s in the best condition he’s ever been in and he’s already done some good things in our run game in the first few days.”

Toure time

Defensive back signee Toure Boyd has been cleared to enroll at South Carolina. He had not arrived in time to practice on Friday, but is expected to be in Columbia by Saturday. He will have to have two days in helmet and shorts, then two days in shells, before he can practice in full pads like the rest of the team.

Injury update

Cornerback Wesley Green (left knee), spur T.J. Gurley (right hamstring), linebacker Jonathan Walton (right knee), defensive ends Gerald Dixon (lower leg) and defensive end Boosie Whitlow (right hamstring), tight end Connor Redmond (back) and defensive tackle Taylor Stallworth (pec muscle) all sat out or were limited by injury Friday.

David Cloninger contributed

This story was originally published August 7, 2015 at 11:44 AM with the headline "Pharoh Cooper limited in practice, but on purpose."