Shane Beamer said Tuesday that Jacarrius Peak and Dylan Stewart are still moving in the right direction as South Carolina works toward its 2026 season opener against Kent State.
“They continue to be on track,” Beamer said.
Beamer said both players keep hitting weekly benchmarks and are still going through regular checkups with doctors and specialists. He said both had those evaluations last week and that the results were positive and, in some ways, ahead of schedule. That’s left both players “eager to get back out there and are closer and closer each and every day.”
The update matched the tone Beamer has used for more than a month, but Sunday offered a closer look at where things stand. Media members were allowed to watch the first six periods of practice, and Peak, the offensive tackle transfer from N.C.
State, was seen working with strength and conditioning staffer Chip Morton. Morton had Peak doing rehab-style work around the edge of the practice field.
Stewart was also around practice, spending much of the time with Jamil Walker, another member of the strength staff. The junior defensive end later walked into the weight room with Walker before the media left practice.
The biggest news around the team that night was the announcement that wide receivers Jayden Gibson and Jayden Sellers have both suffered season-ending injuries.
Beamer said Gibson, who transferred from Oklahoma, “put so much into getting healthy,” while also handling the academic demands needed to graduate from Oklahoma.
“A lot of people would look at the work he had to get done academically and would have said there's no way he's going to get this done,” Beamer said, “Not only did he get it done, (but) he graduated from OU in the spring in the process. To see the trajectory he was on and then get hurt, it's just heartbreaking.”
Beamer also spoke about Sellers, saying, “Then with Jayden Sellers, same thing. Had such a solid summer and was having a good preseason and you hate to see anybody get hurt, but we are here for them. We'll continue to wrap our arms around those guys and the other guys on our team that are dealing with season-ending injuries that we've already talked about before and help those guys through the rehab process.”
In Other News...
South Carolina's Passing Game Just Took Another Painful Hit
South Carolinas receiver room took another hit this week when Jayden Sellers went down with a lower body injury in practice, a setback that will cost him the 2026 season. Sellers had appeared in seven games last year and was lined up for a larger role this fall, making the loss especially frustrating for a passing game that had already been trying to sort out its depth and options.
The timing makes the injury sting even more for a unit that can least afford to lose experienced targets. Jayden Gibson and Jackson Repp are also already out for the season, leaving the Gamecocks with more questions than answers as they keep working through camp and try to build around what remains in the wideout group. [Read more 🡒]
South Carolinas Young Quarterback Brings A Powerful Story And Real Upside
Landon Duckworth arrives in Columbia with the kind of profile that usually comes with a long runway and a lot of anticipation. The freshman quarterback was a highly ranked dual-threat recruit, and South Carolina beat out a crowded field to land him after a recruiting process that had multiple schools involved. For now, he is expected to learn behind the current starters, but the upside is obvious enough that he already feels like part of the programs future conversation.
Duckworths story also carries a personal weight that goes beyond recruiting rankings and depth charts. He honors his late brother with a chest tattoo, a reminder that the path to this point has included far more than football. As he settles in and develops, the challenge will be turning that promise into a real push for a starting job down the road, which is exactly the kind of next step the Gamecocks will be watching closely. [Read more 🡒]
LaNorris Sellers Now Faces A Tough South Carolina Reality
South Carolinas wide receiver room took another hit in late August, leaving the Gamecocks to sort through their depth just as the season is about to get rolling. Jayden Sellers went down during a scrimmage on Aug. 15, and Jayden Gibson was injured in practice the following week, a tough stretch for a position group that had already been expected to carry more than its share of the load for LaNorris Sellers and the offense.
Shane Beamer addressed the injuries and the state of the receiving corps, but the bigger concern now is how much flexibility South Carolina really has if the room keeps thinning out. Losing one option is difficult enough at this stage of camp, and losing another changes the conversation around who can step up, who can stay healthy and how much the Gamecocks can ask of the passing game once the real games begin. [Read more 🡒]