Monday nuggets: Swinney updates injuries, redshirt possibility at LB |
CLEMSON – Clemson’s full attention is devoted to Auburn, but several roster decisions have to be made before the Tigers travel to Alabama and Jordan-Hare Stadium for the season opener.
One of the toughest decisions might involve freshman linebacker Shaq Smith. Head coach Dabo Swinney told the media following Monday’s practice that with fall camp in the books the coaching staff can devote their time to preparing for Auburn. “It's all Auburn and game plan from this point on. We'll still do some good on good mixed in each practice to keep everybody sharp with the speed of the game,” Swinney said. “We still have a lot of work we've got to get done against each other, but it's all game plan and really trying to get dialed in physically and mentally to get ready for this opponent.” NOTES The injury to Carlos Watkins “He's good. He's practicing full speed. He'll be ready to roll. He's wearing a soft cast.” “We only had one issue. Chandler Reeves, Saturday, doing a pass rush drill. They think he tore his ACL, but we've got to confirm all of that. That was the initial deal. You never know until you get in there. When Byron Maxwell was here, they thought he tore his ACL and then when they got in there, it wasn't torn. The MRIs aren't always right or conclusive, but that's the initial thought is that he tore his ACL. I really hate that, but better to do it now than November. We'll get started on the rehab and get that young man back and he'll be better than ever.” “He was back in there today working. He hasn't really cut it loose in a while, so we were pretty cautious with him today. He did some man-to-man, did all of his individual work, so hopefully each day he can push it a little bit more and more.” Cornerback battle “Just battling with Mark Fields and Ryan Carter. We're trying to work Edmond back in there as well. Trayvon Mullen is a guy that's really competed well. I thought he had a really good day today. Going in, it would probably be Mark or Carter right now. We've got two more weeks of practice and prep and game planning and details. We'll see who ends up starting the game but I think both of those guys will play a lot.” Andy Teasdall definitely to start at punter “Andy is on his own level. He has had a great fall camp. Andy has a chance to punt on the next level. This kid is a phenomenal athlete. He's just a worker. He's a grinder. That's what a lot of people don't know about Teasdall, he's a really good athlete. He can run. He's a great lacrosse player in high school and had some opportunities to go play on scholarship, but he wanted to chase his dream of playing football. He's separated himself.” “We'd throw Anchrum out there in a heartbeat (at left tackle). He's had a great camp. You never know until you get out there and you see the look in everybody's eyes but he's demonstrated in practice that we can trust him. It very well could be that we put Taylor Hearn over there and put Maverick Morris over at guard if it's an extended amount of time but if it's a series or something I think we're all confident that Tremayne is ready to go play.” “Chad has definitely made some progress. He's going to be a guy that's going to be on our special teams. That's going to be his role this year - a special team's guy - and hopefully have an opportunity to get in the game at backer. It's a very competitive situation right now and Tre Lamar is in front of him. It's not a negative to Chad. It's just a positive to Tre. Chad has a bright future. He's got four years left and he's what we thought he would be and he's still maturing into the player he can be.” Shaq Smith “Shaq has every tool you could possibly want in a backer, but right now it's not showing up like it needs to for him to compete with the guys that he's competing with. We're not sure that he's going to play right now. We don't want to play a guy just to play a guy. I know this, if B.J. Goodson wouldn't have redshirted he wouldn't have probably been drafted. B.J. looked the part as a freshman, but he wasn't ready to play. If they'll stick with it, guys will develop and they'll be successful. It will all work out if guys will work and grind and do what they need to do.” K'Von Wallace, corner or safety? "He's played both all through camp and he'll continue to do that all season. Some weeks we might say you're just going to play corner and then all of a sudden something happens and you're going to play safety this week. I think he's gifted mentally in that he can do that. He's certainly gifted physically to be able to do what we need to do at both positions. I really hate to compare him but he's a Marcus Gilchrist, that's what he his. He's that guy. He can flat out run. He's physical. He's very conscientious. He's a high football IQ guy. Where he plays this year, I'd be surprised if you don't see him at multiple spots and through his career I think you'll see him all over the place. I'm glad we got that guy. I think he's a heck of a player."
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