Practice report: Thompson breaks hand again

Leading off

The flustering part for sophomore defensive tackle Brandon Thompson is that he has broken his right hand for the second year in a row.

The good news, Thompson said, is he at least enters the season knowing what he will and will not be able to do with the hand wrapped in a soft cast.

Thompson said he broke a bone toward the back of his right hand when he landed on the hand last week, although he did not notice the injury until several days later.

The 6-foot-3, 305-pounder has worn a hard cast at practice this week but will swap it next week for a soft cast that gives him movement in all his fingers.

Thompson said he figures to wear the soft cast through the Sept. 5 opener against Middle Tennessee as well as the Sept. 10 game at No. 15 Georgia Tech.

“I’m one-handed right now, but everything should be all right when I get the soft cast,” Thompson said.

As a freshman, Thompson broke his hand in the same spot midway through August camp and wore a soft cast for the first two or three games as well.

Stock rising

Sophomore middle linebacker Brandon Maye has made substantial progress in learning to channel his emotions. “He’s just a different guy than he was last year,” coach Dabo Swinney said. “Physically, he’s a different guy;maturity-wise he’s a different guy.”

Stock falling

School records for starting quarterback inexperience. If redshirt freshman Kyle Parker starts against Middle Tennessee as expected, it will be the first time a freshman has started Clemson’s season opener since Bobby Gage was the single-wing back against Presbyterian in 1945. The last time Clemson’s season-opening starter had not previously taken a career snap was 1974.

Injury report

Clemson released its official report for the MTSU game, with redshirt freshman receiver Brandon Ford (foot) listed as probable. Swinney was optimistic redshirt freshman kicker Spencer Benton (strained groin) would be available for Saturday’s mock game.

Quote of the day

“I’ve had a lot of people ask me about Georgia Tech. We did some stuff in the spring where we took a period or two to prepare for the option, but we’re 100 percent focused on Middle (Tennessee), that’s the bottom line. This is a critical, critical game. ... I just think at this level, you start overlooking opponents, you send the message to your team that somebody’s not good enough to be important, you set yourself up for major, major failure.”

— Swinney

Extra points

Junior kicker Richard Jackson had another strong outing, Swinney said. ... When asked who the defense’s most physical player is, Swinney didn’t skip a beat in naming junior safety DeAndre McDaniel. ... Swinney had lunch Thursday with former Clemson coach Danny Ford. Ford’s sister is the mother-in-law of first-year tight ends coach Danny Pearman.

— Paul Strelow