Moving Forward: Kelly Bryant Injury Gameplan

Last night during his Sunday teleconference, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney knew what the media called in for and addressed it right away. 

Quarterback Kelly Bryant rolled his ankle when he got hit high and low at the same time late in the third quarter just before Clemson scored their final touchdown. 

After the touchdown and with a 28-point lead, Bryant did not return to the game.

Bryant showed off an extra-large walking boot on his left foot after the game. 

“I know everybody’s going to probably ask about Kelly. He came in today, and he’s a little sore but (was) actually moving around pretty good,” Swinney said. “It’ll just be kind of day to day, and we’ll see how he progresses through the week.”

Bryant practiced last night, but was limited and will probably remain limited as the week progresses. If everything goes well, Swinney believes that he will play in the Carrier Dome Friday night.

Clemson fans should be able to breath easy this week because the injury shouldn’t be anything too rough and there are two more than capable backup quarterbacks in Zerrick Cooper and Hunter Johnson.

Cooper entered the game first on Saturday, and he struggled a bit throwing the ball. He was short on a few of his throws, including one to a wide-open Deon Cain that most likely would have resulted in a touchdown. 

Johnson came in for a possession after Cooper and shined. He threw five passes and completed every one of them, including a touchdown pass to tight end Cannon Smith. 

Both quarterbacks looked the part of a starting quarterback on Saturday, but Johnson did in particular. Travis Etienne, speaking from experience, said that a good performance could lift Johnson’s confidence going forward.

“At first, you are out there, and you feel like you don’t belong,” Etienne said. “But actually, in reality, you do belong. Hunter practices hard every day. He practices like it’s his job every week, week-in and week-out. He didn’t change that (last night) because he always practices hard.”

When Deshaun Watson was Clemson’s quarterback, he rarely missed a game. Being his backup must have been the most mentally excruciating challenge.

Co-offensive coordinator Jeff Scott explained Monday about how hard it is being the guy behind the starting quarterback.

“It is one of the most difficult jobs in sports to be the number two quarterback,” Scott said. “Because you have to prepare as if you are the starter. That first play of the game, your starting quarterback goes down, you have to be able to know the entire game plan, all the checks and all of those things. 

“Brandon Streeter does an excellent job with our quarterbacks. He does an excellent job with preparing not just the starter, but also the backups. That has always been a point of emphasis.”

Kelly, like Watson, runs the ball a lot and is fearless when it comes to using his legs. A part of what Clemson does running the quarterback these days puts the quarterback at risk on any play.

Now, with three guys who all competed for the starting job in the spring, there is more confidence in Cooper and Johnson to run the offense if they are called to do so.

“There has been more split reps than probably in the past where you knew Deshaun for two years was the starter, and the next guy was the backup,” Scott said. “We have two guys that have been prepared as the backup as opposed to maybe in the past where you had that one guy.”

Going forward this week, it's unknown how the reps will be split up or if they will be split up at all. 

Bryant was unable to speak to the media today because of treatment and midterm season being in full swing and Swinney won’t give out any more details about what his plan is if Bryant is unable to go. 

Sort of like a week ago when Wake Forest kept their quarterback injury and situation under wraps. 

“We’re not gonna get into all that,” Swinney said. “We’re just gonna get ready for those guys. I expect Kelly to be ready to go, but if he’s not, we’ll have a plan. But I’m not going to lay it out for Syracuse.”