Clemson receiver medically cleared to play in 2026 after ‘very serious’ injury
Seven months after suffering a scary back injury that required a mid-game hospital trip, a Clemson wide receiver has positive news on his injury status.
Junior receiver Bryant Wesco Jr. has been medically cleared to play in 2026, he revealed on an episode of Clemson football’s in-house podcast released Monday.
Wesco said he was medically cleared to play in early May after traveling to Pittsburgh, where he was evaluated in person by the same doctors who did his surgery following his back injury in October.
“I felt like I would, but to have it finalized is pretty exciting,” Wesco said on an episode of Clemson’s “2 Right Turns” podcast.
Wesco was pacing toward an All-ACC season at Clemson in 2025 before he was upended on a punt return during an Oct. 18 home game vs. SMU and landed almost directly on his head/neck area. He left the stadium and went to a local hospital.
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney later said the receiver had dodged a “very serious” back injury and doctors expected Wesco to make a full recovery for the 2026 season.
“Really, just prayers answered,” Swinney said. “Just a blessing. Kind of a best-case scenario. It was a very, very scary injury, and the doctors did an amazing job. ... Again, a very scary injury and a lot of unknowns for the first 24 hours.”
Wesco missed the rest of Clemson’s 2025 season. He participated in 2026 spring practice, but the team held Wesco out of scrimmages and other “live work” settings. He could run routes and do drills, but he couldn’t be tackled.
After getting medical clearance last month, Wesco can now practice in full. Monday’s podcast was the first time he’d publicly discussed his injury and recovery process.
“It’s a hard thing to do, just sit on the sidelines and watch. ... The injury itself, you can’t really do much to come back from it,” Wesco said. “You’ve just gotta let time heal it. The process from the doctors and everything, it was great.”
Wesco: ‘Just so happy to be back’
Wesco’s return will be a significant boost for Clemson’s 2026 offense. The former five-star recruit from Texas has been historically productive in his first two seasons as a Tiger and has already generated some 2027 NFL Draft buzz.
Wesco (6-2, 190) was averaging a career-high 76.7 receiving yards per game as a sophomore before his season-ending injury. He also led Clemson with six touchdown catches in 2025 despite missing the team’s last six games and is one of only four Tigers all-time to reach 1,000 career receiving yards in their first 15 games.
He and fellow junior starter T.J. Moore should be top receiving options for a unit entering its first year under offensive coordinator Chad Morris and breaking in a new starting quarterback after Cade Klubnik’s graduation. Redshirt junior QB Christopher Vizzina is the expected 2026 starter.
Clemson opens the 2026 season at LSU on Saturday, Sept. 5 (7:30 p.m., ABC). Wesco said he’ll be extra grateful to suit up for the Tigers this year after missing extended time for the first time in his football career.
“I’m just so happy to be back with the team, going up against the defense at a different level,” he said.
