Injury report: Optimistic update on Judge Collier

South Carolina has not had starting cornerback Judge Collier on the field since early in its season opener against Virginia Tech, but there are some signs he could be back soon.

Head coach Shane Beamer largely deferred to Wednesday night’s availability report with his injury update during his Tuesday press conference, but did offer a quick encouraging note on Collier’s status.

“Injury-wise, we’ll have a report for you tomorrow night, nobody that we’d say right now is out,” Beamer said Tuesday. “It was good to see Judge Collier back at practice today, hopefully he will continue to trend in the right direction, and see where guys are tomorrow night when we release that availability report.”

Sign up for GamecockCentral today – $1 for the first week, plus a complimentary year of access to The Athletic included.

Collier, tight end Mike Smith, and safety DQ Smith all missed the Gamecocks’ 29-20 loss to Missouri.

Then Cason Henry, who was banged up against Vanderbilt but was back in the starting lineup against the Tigers, exited after the first play of the game with what the broadcast said was a shoulder injury.

Defensive tackle Gabe Brownlow-Dindy and center Nolan Hay were also banged up in the game.

“Injury-wise, we got out of it fairly okay,” Beamer said Sunday during his teleconference. “I would say right now Gabe Dindy and Cason Henry are the two that we’re most concerned about and we’ll have another update for ya injury-wise on Wednesday night.”

Beamer also mentioned Saturday, Trovon Baugh had been dealing with an injury heading into the game.

“He’s kind of had a nagging injury this week,” Beamer said Saturday. “He was available, but he wasn’t 100 percent.”

Since this is an SEC matchup, South Carolina and Kentucky will both release availability reports throughout the week, with the first official report expected just after 8 p.m. on Wednesday.

The next availability update will come Thursday at around 8 p.m., followed by another on Friday and a final report 90 minutes before kickoff on Saturday.

Beamer also typically provides an injury update on his Thursday night call-in show.

Last season, the SEC approved a player availability injury report system for football, men’s and women’s basketball and baseball.

SEC school personnel must submit availability reports three days before each football game, with daily updates leading to a final report 90 minutes before game time. For basketball and baseball, reports are filed the night before, with an update on game day.

According to the SEC, penalties for inaccurate or late reports will range from $25,000 to $100,000 for football and anywhere from $15,000 to $25,000 for basketball and baseball.

When schools submit injury reports, players will be designated as available, probable, doubtful, and questionable before game day. On game day, designations will be available, game-time decision or out. The model follows injury reports similar to the NFL.

South Carolina will be back at home on Saturday, Sept. 27, before heading into its first bye week. The Gamecocks will face Kentucky at 7:45 p.m. on SEC Network.

Discuss South Carolina football on The Insiders Forum!