Dabo Swinney Optimistic About Tigers Health Heading to Virginia Tech

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney provided an injury update on some of the Tigers who were not available in the teams 52-17 win over Pitt on Saturday.

Over the past several years, Clemson has been fairly fortunate when it comes to the injury bug. However, that has not been the case for most of this season. 

The third-ranked Tigers have seen their defense ravaged by injuries, and after a three week layoff the team was as close to healthy in the 52-17 win over Pitt than they had been since the beginning of the season. 

They still aren't at full strength though, as defensive backs Lannden Zanders, Sheridan Jones, and Jalyn Phillips all missed the game on Saturday. Starting cornerback Derion Kendrick was also held out for undisclosed reasons. 

Head coach Dabo Swinney says they are getting close though, and he is hopeful to get all of those guys back for next weekends matchup with Virginia Tech.

"Sheridan, he'll be back this week, Jalyn will be back," Swinney said. "And it will be good to get those guys back. Obviously D.K. was there, we just didn't play him, but he's back. So a lot of good things right now and trending some, just knock on wood. And then Zanders is still day-to-day right now."

Despite being hit so hard by the injury bug, particularly on the defensive side of the ball, Swinney says there has been some good to come out of it. It has forced some of the younger players to step up and the Tigers head coach says that's beneficial for everyone involved. 

"I'll tell you one of the silver linings is we've been able to get a lot of guys some experience," Swinney said. A lot of guys have grown their confidence. We've been forced to have to be creative and guys have stepped up, I mean done a nice job. They really have."

In Saturday's big win over Pitt, it was some of those younger guys that stepped up and made plays. Trenton Simpson, Malcolm Greene, and E.J. Williams are all freshman who not only contributed, but made contributions early as Clemson built a 31-0 first quarter lead. 

"Great to see Malcolm Greene get out there," Swinney said. "If you look at how the game started you had Trenton Simpson with a sack, true freshman. You had Malcolm Greene with a pick, true freshman. Then you had E.J. Williams with a touchdown, true freshman. It was pretty cool to see the game start that way."

All things considered, Swinney is happy with the progress some of the younger players have made throughout the season. At the same time, he says it was something he was fully expecting.

"Hey that was game nine," Swinney said. "Those guys are at that point in the season where it should be slowing down for them a little bit.