Stanford Week Practice Report: Minor Injuries Headline Tuesday's Session

Following a day off because of the Labor Day Holiday, the USC Trojans returned to the practice field for their first installment of plays and drills for the upcoming Stanford game. Head coach Steve Sarkisian hinted USC would not be installing any real new plays from Fall Camp in preparation for the Pac-12 opener and that was put on full display during Tuesday morning's practice.

• Starting quarterback Cody Kessler had a minor foot procedure early Tuesday morning, due to some pain he was suffering during the Fresno State game, and was kept out of practice.
• Leonard Williams rolled an ankle during practice and was being treated on the team's medical pad on the far side of the field. He was given an ankle brace for his left foot injury and did not return to the practice field.
• Damien Mama had a scare on the next to last play of practice during team 11-on-11 activities, going down and grabbing his right knee, but Sarkisian said he will be fine. Mama had scared himself more than anything else.
• Max Browne took the first-team reps in Kessler's absence. But Browne did throw two interceptions: one to Kevon Seymour on a shallow outside route and the other to Leon McQuay III when Browne forced a throw into coverage while under heavy duress in the backfield.
• When asked about the increased reps, Max Browne was encouraged by his performance: "Good to get out there, fun running with the ones. Approach it just like every other day. Stay ready and just compete."
• Nelson Agholor was impressed with the way Browne delivered the football, adding that "We need guys (like Max) believe when the opportunities come, they have to step up and make plays."
• Steve Sarkisian and Stanford head coach David Shaw have quite the history against one another from last year's meeting going back to reports when Sark called out Stanford (shortly after the game) for faking injuries to slow down his uptempo offense. Following practice, Sark hashed out where these two stand.
  
  "David (Shaw) and I are both highly competitive people. We both want to win...Oddly enough, David and I and our wives were in Hawaii over the Spring."
• Tre Madden was held out of practice once again, but was on the field watching. Sark visited with Tre during practice and felt he was much improved, but not yet 100-percent healthy.
• James Toland IV, who provided a nice spark collecting 47 yards rushing on 12 carries, impressed coach Sarkisian for his hard-hitting running. "He really did in the game, what he's shown us to do in practice."
• Aundrey Walker, who declined to participate on Saturday, was back on the practice field getting work as the second-string left tackle behind Chad Wheeler.

Here is @CoachSark's Tuesday presser with injury updates on @CodyKessler6, @LWtrojan94 and more: http://t.co/8DUOliTdI3 #USC

— USC Trojans (@USC_Athletics) September 2, 2014