Shane Beamer optimistic Jaylen Nichols will be healthy before end of season

Not all hope is lost for Jaylen Nichols. On Thursday, South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer provided an optimistic update on the offensive lineman’s condition.

“Jaylen Nichols, optimistic that we’ll be able to get him back, [we] feel like by the end of the season. He’s moving around well and looks good, and is in great spirits. And I think he would tell you the same that his goal is to certainly be back before the end of the year,” Beamer said.

In April, Nichols went down with a knee injury in the first quarter of South Carolina’s Garnet and Black Game. The injury ultimately required surgery, a crushing blow to South Carolina’s leader on the offensive line.

The fifth-year senior started in 14 games in 22 appearances for the Gamecocks in the past two seasons. Even with Nichols’ help, South Carolina’s offensive line struggled last year. The team allowed 2.38 sacks per game, tied for 81st in the nation.

Furthermore, the Gamecocks’ line failed to create comfortable holes for their running backs to burst through. South Carolina averaged just 118.8 rushing yards per contest, ranking No. 106 in the nation. For reference, there are 133 FBS teams.

In other words, South Carolina’s line needs all the help it can get. Luckily for Gamecocks fans, Nichols is grinding his way back to the gridiron.

“I’m in rehab like all day. Well, not all day. I would say I’m in there all morning. I start at 7 and leave around like 11. So I do rehab a whole lot. Got to get this knee right and come back,” Nichols said during an appearance on the Garnet Trust Hour on 107.5 The Game in June.

A coin toss is the best odds Nichols can give South Carolina diehards for now.

“It’s really 50-50,” he said. “I could come back next year. I could finish this season and go to the next level. It’s really like neck and neck at this point. Whatever happens, take it day by day. That’s the best way I can.”

With or without Nichols, expectations are high for Beamer and South Carolina this season. The 46-year-old head coach took the Gamecocks from a 2-8 mark in 2020 to a 7-6 campaign in 2021. Beamer followed up the magic act with an eight-win season, just the 15th time in the program’s 129-year history.

Fans will undoubtedly be hungry for more in 2023. Watch South Carolina begin its season on Sept. 2 in a matchup against North Carolina.