LaNorris Sellers injury update: Shane Beamer shares when QB must return to practice

South Carolina superstar quarterback LaNorris Sellers suffered a concussion in Saturday night’s 31-7 home loss to Vanderbilt, according to On3’s Pete Nakos. Sellers left the game after taking a hard helmet-to-helmet hit on a blitz from Commodores linebacker Langston Patterson with 1:52 left in the first half.

Nakos added that Sellers’ status for Saturday’s road game at No. 23 Missouri (3-0) remains in question as he continues to work his way through the Gamecocks’ concussion protocol.

While Shane Beamer declined to provide any more information about Sellers’ current condition — “Nope, we have an injury report for an SEC game that we release on Wednesday nights,” he said Tuesday — the South Carolina head coach made it clear Sellers will need to practice in some capacity over the next two days if he’s going to be available to play Saturday.

“Yeah, we have a pretty consistent policy if you don’t practice Tuesday or Wednesday, you’re not going to play,” Beamer said during Tuesday’s press conference. “I don’t care who you are, if you don’t get out there and practice on Tuesdays and Wednesdays especially, it’s really tough to just practice on Thursday. Practice on Thursdays are important here, but it’s a little bit of a shorter day, and the base or bulk of your gameplan is (installed) on Tuesday and Wednesday.

“So whether you’re an offensive player, a defensive player, or a special teams player, we need to be able to see you do something on Tuesday or Wednesday.”

Sellers, a redshirt sophomore, is widely projected as a likely Top-10 selection in April’s 2026 NFL Draft, with some projecting he could go as high as No. 1 overall. Through 2 1/2 games this season, Sellers has combined for 476 total yards and three touchdowns, including 431 yards and two scores on 64.4-percent passing. If Sellers is unavailable to play Saturday against the Tigers, veteran backup Luke Doty is likely to get the starting nod, according to Nakos.

Doty replaced Sellers against Vanderbilt, finishing 18 of 27 for 148 yards with an interception and a fumble. The sixth-year senior has made nine career starts. It marked South Carolina’s first loss to Vanderbilt since 2008.

“Injury-wise, don’t have an update for you on LaNorris,” Beamer said after the game.

Following Saturday’s game at Missouri, South Carolina enters the heart of its SEC slate with a home game vs. Kentucky on Sept. 27 before traveling to Baton Rouge to play No. 3 LSU on Oct. 11. That begins a string of five straight games against ranked SEC opponents, including back-to-back home games against No. 11 Oklahoma and No. 14 Alabama on Oct. 18 and Oct. 25, respectively.