Wednesday Practice Update
Dabo Swinney met with the media Wednesday evening and discussed injury news and more after practice.
Swinney began by announcing that freshman defensive lineman Logan Rudolph will miss the remainder of the season. Rudolph had been battling a shoulder injury he obtained during his senior year of high school.
Rudolph played with his injury in a backup role through the first three games of the season, but ended up getting shut down after his shoulder popped out of place during Tuesday’s practice.
The plan is to try and apply for a redshirt for Rudolph.
“We lost Logan Rudolph yesterday. We tried to manage and get through already and his shoulder came out again,” Swinney said. “It was just a tough thing yesterday for him. He is going to go ahead and have surgery and we will see if we can apply for a redshirt for him. I hate it for him; he was off to a good start. We needed to go ahead and fix that.”
Swinney will look for younger players, like Xavier Kelly, to step up in the absence of Rudolph and play their role.
“You got to step up. You hate to see guys get hurt, but it is somebody else’s opportunity to get in. That’s just the way it is. Unfortunately, injuries are a part of it and things like that, but guys have to step up. They are young players, but we got to get them ready. We need Xavier and Justin to step forward and hopefully get more reps that will help spur that along.”
Marcus Edmond and DJ Greenlee will also be out this weekend against Boston College.
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Swinney touched on Tanner Muse’s ejection and how Isaiah Simmons was prepared and ready to step right in with no drop off at that position.
“You never know when your opportunity is coming. It’s next man up and that’s the way it has to be… You got to prepare and be ready. I don’t know who said it, but ‘if you wait for the opportunity to prepare, then you are in trouble.’ You got to prepare fort your opportunity even if it never comes. That’s the mindset you got to have. That’s what we try to instill in these guys.”
Kelly Bryant had only 100 plays of experience in his first two years in the program, but has prepared for his opportunity the entire time and is taking advantage of it. “He was ready this spring,” Swinney said.
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Clemson gave up three sacks to Louisville and four to Auburn. Swinney was asked about protection issues and if miscommunication had anything to do with it:
“We just need to clean up the little things. Some of it is communication. Some of it is technique… For the most part, we did a pretty good job. We’ve played two good defenses that are going to be able to get some pressure on the quarterback.”
Swinney referenced that Bryant had some pocket management issues in the Auburn game, but will continue to improve over time with more experience. Tavien Feaster also missed a block on a third down early in the 3rd quarter against Louisville that put Clemson out of position to get points. Swinney said “it’s just technique,” and Feaster has shown he can pass block and will continue to get better at it with more experience.
“That’s an area that we can definitely improve and we will. We work hard on it every single day.”
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As the No. 2 team in the country, Clemson has proven that it is one of the top programs in the nation this season. Kirk Herbstreit even claimed that Alabama and Clemson are “arm-in-arm” as programs. Swinney was asked what his reaction is to that statement:
“I just think it’s kind of funny. I mean that’s great, it really is, but we are kind of in the same spot we were in last year and everybody was talking about how bad we were. It’s just amazing. We go to Auburn at 9:00, road game opener and we win 19-13 and it’s ‘what is wrong with the team?’ Then we beat a good Louisville team, but nobody wanted to give us any credit for winning… The expectations were so high… The perception is just different and that is interesting to me because we are just 3-0. We are not a championship team yet. We got a long way to go.