It appears Steve Spurrier got everyone wound up for, basically, nothing.
Wednesday after practice, Spurrier made it sound as if there was very real doubt that Mike Davis would be available for South Carolina’s opener against Texas A&M next Thursday. That was offset by both the running back and his position coach downplaying the severity of what’s been described as a rib injury.
A day later, Davis returned to practice after missing the previous two sessions. And he did so without the benefit of the no-contact jersey some of his injured teammates were sporting.
During a radio interview afterward, the OBC struck a decidedly different tone than 24 hours before when talking about Davis’ availability for the A&M game -- even as he couldn’t help but get a shot in at Davis’ expense.
“Mike Davis has sort of been banged-up this preseason,” Spurrier said according to The State. “He’s missed several days of practice, sort of got a bruise in the back or something. He hasn’t practiced but a little bit today, all this week. So Brandon Wilds has been running well, David Williams has been hurt, Shon Carson and Brandon Wilds have been everyday guys all preseason.
“So anyway, Mike’s a heck of a back, but these other guys have actually done a little better than him because Mike’s been hurt a little bit. So we’re going to play our backs, and Mike’s going to be in there.”
Earlier in the day, Davis himself took to Twitter to make light of the concern over his availability for the opener.
Davis, who rushed for nearly 1,200 yards last year, was named first-team All-SEC by the conference’s head coaches Thursday.