Injury update on Clemson wide receiver Antonio Williams after LSU game
Clemson football lost one of its best offensive playmakers to an injury in Saturday’s loss to LSU, and his timeline to return is unclear.
Speaking on his weekly Sunday teleconference, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said he had no update on the status of redshirt junior wide receiver Antonio Williams, who was injured on the first drive of Clemson’s 17-10 home loss to LSU.
The ABC broadcast reported Williams was dealing with a hamstring injury. He left the field, went to the injury tent, went back to the locker room and was back on Clemson’s sideline by the second quarter, but he never re-entered the game.
“We’ll see,” Swinney said of Williams and safety Khalil Barnes, who also left Saturday’s game with an injury. “We’ll see where they are between now and tomorrow and the next couple days of practice and then we’ll go from there.”
Williams was Clemson’s leading receiver last year with 904 yards and 11 touchdowns and turned down the NFL Draft to return to Clemson for a fourth season. He was a preseason All-ACC selection this offseason.
Swinney described Williams’ injury on the Clemson’s first offensive series as a “big loss” for a unit that only scored 10 points and was shut out in the second half. With Williams out, Clemson heavily relied on sophomore receivers Bryant Wesco Jr. (four catches for 66 yards) and T.J. Moore (four catches for 55 yards).
Redshirt sophomore Tyler Bown (four catches for 43 yards) also contributed. Among wide receivers, Moore played a team-high 54 of 60 offensive snaps against LSU, followed by Brown (49), Wesco (48), Cole Turner (nine), Williams (five) and FCS Southeast Missouri State transfer Tristan Smith (three).
Clemson’s next game is at home Saturday against Troy. After that, the Tigers visit Georgia Tech in their ACC and road opener on Sept. 13.
It’s not entirely unusual for Clemson and Swinney to not have the best idea of players’ injury statuses until Monday, when players usually meet with trainers to assess any injuries from Saturday. But Swinney was coy on the statuses of Williams and Barnes (a starting safety who left the game with an undisclosed injury).
“Injury wise, we’ll see on a couple guys tomorrow where they are, but for the most part, we’re fairly healthy,” Swinney said Sunday.
Per ACC rules, Clemson must provide daily injury reports on Thursday-Saturday of game weeks for conference games, but that rule doesn’t apply to non-conference games such as LSU and Troy, Clemson’s Week 2 opponent.
Next Clemson game
Who: Clemson (0-1) vs. Troy (1-0)
When: 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 6
Where: Memorial Stadium in Clemson
TV: ACC Network
Betting line: Clemson by 32 points
This story was originally published August 31, 2025 at 6:42 PM.
