Cody Waldrop suffers ankle injury

Reserve offensive lineman Cody Waldrop suffered a broken ankle during Saturday’s practice.

Waldrop was injured when a teammate fell on his ankle during a drill, Steve Spurrier said Sunday.

Practice injuries “are something that I absolutely detest,” Spurrier said. “It’s very disappointing to get hurt in practice. There are enough chances in the real game to get hurt that we’re trying to evaluate what we’re doing out there on the practice field.”

There is a chance Waldrop could be able to return later this season, but the junior is scheduled to graduate in December and could be done with football.

Waldrop, 6-foot-2, 300 pounds, was a three-star prospect out of Seffner, Fla., who started eight games in his career at center. He missed most of last season because of a knee injury.

Waldrop was the backup to Alan Knott, who played every offensive snap in USC’s season-opening win against North Carolina.

The Gamecocks might turn to true freshman Zack Bailey as Knott’s backup. Bailey took some third-team reps at center during preseason camp as a just-in-case option.

USC is down to 13 offensive linemen, counting Ulric Jones, who was just moved to offense last week after reporting as a defensive lineman. Jones, though, would only have been used as a blocking tight end against the Tar Heels and has only practiced for one day on the offensive line. He did not play in the opener.

This story was originally published September 5, 2015 at 6:04 PM with the headline "Cody Waldrop suffers ankle injury."