Clemson offensive lineman out for the season

Clemson offensive lineman Blake Vinson is out for the year with a patella injury, Tigers coach Dabo Swinney announced during his Tuesday press conference.

Vinson played in each of Clemson’s first two games before going down. He entered the year as the backup left tackle behind Jackson Carman.

Vinson was one of Clemson’s top backup offensive lineman and was capable of playing tackle or guard.

“Blake Vinson is out. We’re going to go ahead and do surgery on him. He’ll miss the rest of the year with a patella injury,” Swinney said. “They’re going to go ahead and do it now so he’s fully recovered and ready to go for spring practice. Hate that for Blake.”

The redshirt sophomore used his redshirt year in 2017 but can get a medical redshirt and is eligible for a sixth year.

“The good news is with the new rule he can get that year back,” Swinney said.

With Vinson out, freshman Will Putnam will get more opportunities, according to Swinney.

Ross ready to roll

Clemson receiver Justyn Ross, who missed Saturday’s game against Charlotte with a hip injury, is good to go for this week’s matchup against North Carolina.

Ross was cleared to play against the 49ers, but Clemson held him and was only going to use him if it really needed to. Instead, the Tigers jumped out to an early lead and never looked back.

“He was just a little hampered. A little hip flexor. Just a little tinge of pain in there for him and had been bothering him. He had just kind of been playing through. In fact we didn’t know about it because that’s just kind of how he is,” Swinney said. “It just had been bothering him. So we treated him all week and he was feeling better. Game time he really felt great and he was ready to go.”

Swinney added that there was a noticeable difference between the way Ross looked in practice Monday night and the way he looked a couple of weeks ago against Syracuse.

Ross was clearly less than 100 percent against the Orange and caught five passes for 64 yards in the victory.

“He looked great last night, and it was noticeably different. Just his gate. So he feels great. They did a good job with him all of last week as far as treating it and how they stretched him,” Swinney said. “Because all of a sudden that affects your hamstring. That affects your lat. So he’s good. He’s ready to go.”

This story was originally published September 24, 2019 at 11:27 AM.