Dabo Swinney updates status of two starters injured against Georgia Tech
Clemson had a pair of defensive starters that were injured in Saturday’s 24-10 victory over Georgia Tech.
Starting defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence was rolled up on in the first quarter and played a very limited number of snaps, while starting safety Tanner Muse broke his hand in the game and had to play with a cast on for most of the night.
Lawrence appeared to be hit up high and down low on a couple of plays in the first quarter, but Tigers coach Dabo Swinney said he does not believe the plays were dirty.
“It’s just football, man,” Swinney said on his Sunday teleconference. “Georgia Tech, they play within the rules and you’ve got to play through it. But he’s fine. He was a little sore last night but he felt good today and that’s just football.”
Muse played through the pain last night and is expected to be able to continue to do so moving forward.
“They’re going to do another X-ray in the morning but I don’t think it’s anything that’ll keep him out of being able to play,” Swinney said. “You’ve just got to protect it. It certainly limits his ball skills, but still, he should be able to do everything else. Again, they’ll reevaluate him tomorrow and we’ll go from there.”
DEPTH ON D-LINE STEPPING UP
With Lawrence out, others had to step up on Clemson’s defensive line.
The unit was up to the challenge as the Tigers controlled the game up front and held Georgia Tech to 230 total yards of offense.
Backup defensive tackle Jabril Robinson finished with three tackles, while fellow defensive tackle Nyles Pinckney added two.
“We’ve got good bodies in there and we’re going to need our depth down the stretch,” Swinney said. “So it’s good to see Jabril and Nyles and (Albert) Huggins, all those guys had to play a lot of snaps. Chris Register played a lot of snaps. I think we’ve done a good job of developing some depth.”
THANKFUL FOR A DAY GAME
Clemson had played 13 consecutive games away from home at night before the ACC announced that Saturday’s game at N.C. State will be played at 3:30 p.m.
Swinney is thankful to finally have an afternoon game that will allow him to get home at a decent hour.
“I was happy about it. Again, this time of year, it’s late in the season, you don’t control those things so we don’t really spend any time worrying about it. You just embrace it,” Swinney said. “We were 12-1 in those 13 games, too. I know it’s not like we make a big deal out of it, but certainly when I heard it was 3:30, it didn’t disappoint me. That’s for sure. At least you know you’ll get home hopefully around midnight I guess.”