Freshman linebacker Quavon Taylor, mysteriously absent from Monday night's practice, is fine. Relatively speaking, anyway. USF coach Jim Leavitt said Tuesday that Taylor wasn't at practice or in meetings Monday because he didn't realize USF was practicing, five days before the season opener.

"He didn't know we were practicing. How could he not know we were practicing? That seems impossible to me. So I'm suspending him from the team for a week," Leavitt said. "My rule is you miss a practice, you miss a week; you miss two, you're off the team. He can come back next week if that's what he wants to do. He's not a bad kid, he's just trying to get things figured out. I'm just glad he's safe."

Taylor, from Miami Northwestern, had been held out of practice much of last week because he hasn't been cleared by the NCAA Clearinghouse; even before that, he was headed for a redshirt this season because of USF's returning depth at linebacker.