Clemson welcomes Justyn Ross back to football after year of recovery
Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney’s annual first day of fall camp is “Boys are Back in Town” by Thin Lizzy.
Friday’s practice, however, could’ve started with “Welcome Back” by Mase. The Tigers were one wide receiver deeper as redshirt junior Justyn Ross returned to practice after an 18-month journey to recovery.
“Just in time to go to the lake,” Swinney quipped on Tuesday. “He timed that up right. He’s doing great.”
Ross practiced Friday, which included a team trip to the lake after practice, but without contact. He’s medically cleared for a full practice and game action, but he will be without full pads his first five days as he works through the standard NCAA acclimatization period.
While he’s not looking to get hit, Ross is ready to take contact for the first time in almost 19 months when the season starts against Georgia on Sept. 4.
“I’m ready,” he said. “I ain’t got no piece of fear at all. I’m ready to play.”
Ross spent the whole 2020 season recovering from surgery on his spine due to a congenital fusion. He admitted being out that long took a toll on him, but depended on his mother for support. The Alabama native had been doing non-contact work in the spring before receiving medical clearance in June. He was officially cleared for full practice earlier this month. The most recent delay was due to the Georgia native being in COVID-19 protocol, though he stayed in touch with his coaches and teammates during that time.
“That’s just another form of adversity, man,” Ross said. “That’s life. It happens.”
On Thursday, junior cornerback Andrew Booth commented on how excited he was to get back Ross, who adds another challenge for the defensive backs.
“He was a pivotal point two years ago,” Booth said of his teammate. “We missed him last season but that’s going to be a great point for us to win. He’s going to be great.”
In the meantime, the other wide receivers have been continuing to improve. With Ross out, the Tigers have been cross-training EJ Williams and Beaux Collins, who is working his way back from a minor injury.
“To be able to get EJ all that work all week, that actually is a silver lining because EJ and Frank (Ladson) have been out there battling, too, and Frank’s been awesome. Glad to see him respond and give EJ all that work. When Ross gets back, we’ll probably switch it and let Beaux get in there with Ross and EJ go back out there with Frank and cross train them.
“We’ve just got so much more versatility at receiver than we had last year so I’m really excited about that.”
Watching from the sidelines, Ross is excited about what he’s seen from the younger players.
“All the young guys that really came in, I feel like they’re ready to play, Beaux, Dacari, EJ,” Ross said. “I feel like everybody’s ready to play.”
indeed, all of the Tigers’ wide receivers are ready and able to play. Ross included.
This story was originally published August 13, 2021 at 11:18 AM.
