Could Clemson’s Amari Rodgers play against Texas A&M? ‘Anything is possible’
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said during fall camp that there was “zero” chance injured receiver Amari Rodgers would be ready to play against Texas A&M in Week 2.
However, nearly three weeks after ruling out that possibility, Swinney left the door open Sunday night.
“I think he’s really in a good place,” Swinney said during his weekly teleconference with reporters. “I think he’s really close, so we’ll see.”
Rodgers was fully dressed and went through warm-ups in Clemson’s opener against Georgia Tech last Thursday, signaling that the junior might be further ahead of schedule than his previous “late September” timeline. He suffered a torn ACL on March 25.
The Tennessee native started all 15 games for the Tigers last season, finishing second on the team in receptions with 55 for 575 yards and four touchdowns. Rodgers is also Clemson’s starting punt returner.
After playing at outside receiver last season, Rodgers will play in the slot in 2019.
“I think he’s definitely ahead of schedule and doing great,” Swinney said when asked if Rodgers could play against Texas A&M. “I think his timeline has moved up and I would say anything is possible at this point.”
Senior Diondre Overton replaced Rodgers in the starting lineup against Georgia Tech and caught one pass for three yards in Clemson’s 52-14 victory. If Rodgers is able to play Saturday, it would be only five-and-a-half months after suffering the injury.
Update on former Tigers
Clemson has several former players playing prominent roles at other programs across the country, most notably quarterbacks Kelly Bryant and Hunter Johnson and running back Tavien Feaster.
Bryant accounted for 443 total yards, including 423 passing yards Saturday night for Missouri, but the Tigers suffered a 37-31 loss at Wyoming.
Johnson got the start for Northwestern but struggled, completing 6-of-17 passes for 56 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions in a 17-7 loss to Stanford.
Feaster led South Carolina with 13 carries for 72 yards and added two catches for 11 yards in USC’s 24-20 loss to North Carolina.
Swinney got a chance to see a couple of his former players in action with Clemson off Saturday.
“I didn’t get to see Hunter at all. I was kind of back and forth. I saw a little bit of Missouri, a little bit of Kelly. I thought he looked good. I didn’t watch the whole game, but what parts I saw I thought he did a nice job,” Swinney said. “And the same thing with Feaster. I didn’t get to see all of that, so I don’t really know how he did. But I know he had the big, long touchdown (34 yards) and that’s certainly what he’s capable of doing, for sure.”
This story was originally published September 1, 2019 at 6:17 PM.
