Clemson defender Jeadyn Lukus feeling good in come back from injury

Jeadyn Lukus led Clemson in snaps on defense versus Georgia.

Ariana Pensy - Correspondent - Saturday, September 07 2024

CLEMSON - Junior Tigers cornerback Jeadyn Lukus was just grateful to be on the field again last Saturday.

Over his first two seasons on campus, he's had surgery on both of his shoulders, before having his shoulder pop out again in the spring.

“Freshman year, I got hurt. Last year, I got hurt. I feel like it’s always something. So, it felt good to finally get back out there and make a couple plays … My shoulder came out again. So, that gave me some problems. So, I was out for a couple practices, and we had to get that fixed up. But, it’s feeling good now,” Lukus said. “Just going in and getting treatment everyday, just kind of trying to be a little limited with my shoulder motion, going up for balls until the game on Saturday …

"I wasn’t wearing the brace because I had surgery on both of them and they hadn’t come out for a while. So, I just dove for a ball, and it came out again. So, I have to go back with the brace on (like) last Saturday. So, hoping it doesn’t come out again. But, you just got to play with no fear and see what happens.”

Playing No. 1 Georgia, Lukus played the most snaps out of anyone on the defensive side of the ball with 62 snaps. He finished the game with seven total tackles, including 0.5 tackles for loss. Both of those totals are already higher than all of last season and almost greater than his entire freshman year. If he continues to be able to play this amount of snaps and have that kind of productivity, he could become an integral part of Clemson’s defense this season. Right now, he is just focused on taking it one game at a time, and that started with the Georgia game.

“I got to get better in some areas, too, and I know that. But, overall, I think I played a pretty decent game,” Lukus said. “It felt good. It just felt good to get back out there, get past a lot of my injuries and play football. So, it felt really good.”

The Tigers’ focus now shifts to Appalachian State, which is coming off of a season-opening victory for the second season in a row. They finished last season 9-5, led by quarterback Joey Aguilar, who is back for his second season as the starting quarterback for the Mountaineers. Going against East Tennessee State this past Saturday, he completed 61.1 percent of his passes for 326 yards and two touchdowns.

“We got to keep moving forward. App State is a good team. So, we cannot get caught with our pants down, so to speak. They’re a really good team, so we just got to keep moving forward,” Lukus said. “I think (Aguilar)’s fearless. I think he’s a really good player and he’ll throw the ball up and trust his receivers to make some plays. So, we got to be prepared for that and just be ready to make some plays.”

Clemson last played against Appalachian State back in 2015 when No. 12 Clemson beat the Mountaineers 41-10 en route to their College National Championship appearance. At No. 25 this time around, the Tigers will be looking to make a statement against Appalachian State this Saturday (8 p.m. / ACC Network) before their first bye week of the season.