Dabo Swinney calls Clemson's scrimmage 'double-edged sword'

Opening statement:

“Really tried to treat it like a preseason game. Trying to create that mentality-wise. ACC officials-- call it as strictly as you can call it.”

“Today was a fun day. This is live-- go play! It’s a different world. When I was playing, every day was live. They had to tell you, ‘Hey, it’s not live.’ Not you have to say, ‘It’s live!’

It’s a challenge because you’ve got to take advantage of your opportunities. 

On the offense:

Swinney said the offensive line 'won the day' today in their battle with Clemson's defensive line. It was very competitive as Andrew Mukuba and R.J. Mickens both had picks in the scrimmage. Perfect timing for Mukuba after our story yesterday morning.

Swinney is ‘very encouraged’ with the offensive line. “All they hear and read is how bad they are. It’s just the opposite on the other side. All they read is how great they are.”

“Love how our backs ran the ball. All the backs had big plays. We had some big plays in the passing game. D.J. had one mistake. Cade had one mistake.”

On the issues with scrimmaging against yourself:

“You wish you were playing someone else because it’s a double-edged sword for me. If the punter hits a great punt, but your punt return was excellent, that means your punt coverage wasn’t very good, right? So you’re happy, but you're mad.” 

On the battle at punter:

Swinney is still “please and encouraged” about the situation at punter as well. He thought that kick and punt return were both really good during the scrimmage.

On the offensive line:

“We’re just trying to get the best five (offensive lineman). Is it Blake (Miller), or is it (Bryn) Tucker? Is it Mitchell (Mayes)? Who is it? Who’s the fifth-best guy? If it means moving Walker (Parks) to guard— then that’s what we’ll do.”

“I think we’ve got 11.5 guys that I can trust right now. Hopefully, by gameday, we will have 12, maybe 13. It’s a much more veteran group. We’ve got two true freshmen in Blake (Miller) and Collin (Sadler) they are both going to play-- I’ll tell y’all right now-- they both are going to play. They both will help us. They’re ready.”

“More guys that are capable of competing, and that’s making us better.”

On the wideouts:

“Receivers have been really good. I’m super pleased with our group. Beaux (Collins) has been out a few days. E.J. (Williams) hopefully will be back running around on Monday. The encouraging thing is that Beaux and E.J. have been out all week-- both of them are off to a great start in camp, and they will be back soon-- that’s really allowed us to challenge some other guys.”

On Cole Turner:

”This kid-- he’s got unbelievable long-term potential. He could help us this year. I’m hoping we don’t have to have him, but he’s making it hard on us. He makes plays every day. He made two big plays today. He gets yards after contact. He’s strong. He’s fast. He’s got a unique knack for finishing the play.”

On Troy Stellato’s injury:

”Stellato’s out. Stellato tore his ACL. He had a couple of good days, but just like all these other injuries, it’s just unfortunate. It’s kind of been his story since he got here to this point. He’s been injured. He’s not been a guy that’s really been available much. I thought he finished spring really well. Then he had two good days in a row, taking advantage of this opportunity. He’s a redshirt freshman. It’s frustrating. I just tried to encourage him. He’s still got four years left because he redshirted, and if you lose another season due to injury, you automatically get that year. So he’s still got four years left starting next year.”