CLEMSON FOOTBALL

Swinney on Deshaun Watson's rehab


by - Assoc. Editor -

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney talked to the local media on Friday afternoon to preview Spring football practice.

Swinney talked about his star quarterback's rehab: "Killing it (rehab). He's way ahead of where a guy normally would be. Real pleased with progress he is making."

Swinney was asked a question on injury fears with Watson in the upcoming season with regards to running the football with him. "We run the zone read, that's what we do. That's why he's here. He got hurt on a play where he had no contact. He just made a cut and tore his ACL. You don't play the game out of fear," Swinney responded.

The expectation is for Watson to be able to lead the team in summer drills. At the first benchmark where he was supposed to be at 50%, he was 75% in tests.

Watson in his rookie campaign completed 67.9% of his passes for 1,466 yards (10.7 per attempt) and 14 touchdowns and only two interceptions and had a tremendous quarterback rating of 188.57.

The Clemson coaching staff will push backup Nick Schussler to see if he can take the next step in his maturation process.

Swinney joked that freshman quarterback Tucker Israel "may not know how to hand the ball off" because of the pass-happy offense that he directed in high school. He said that Israel is a a bit of a free spirit, doesn't get overwhelmed, very loose and "came out of the womb slingin in."

Deshaun Watson

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