Justyn Ross ready for the Bulldogs, facing good friend Derion Kendrick

Justyn Ross is back at practice and ready to take on the Bulldogs

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Sat Aug 14 08:00:06 GMT-04:00 2021

CLEMSON – Justyn Ross was back at practice Friday and he’s ready to roll straight into a meeting with former Tiger Derion Kendrick and the Georgia Bulldogs.

Head coach Dabo Swinney told the media last week that Ross was finally cleared to play after surgery on his neck, but had to wait just a little longer due to COVID protocols. Friday was his first day back, and he was all smiles as he met with the media following practice.

"It feels great man. It's the best I ever felt," Ross said. "I was ready to get back to work. Being off a year, it took its toll on me."

Ross enters 2021 having recorded 112 passes for 1,865 yards with 17 touchdowns in 929 snaps over 29 career games (14 starts) from 2018-19 before missing all of 2020. Ross posted a dazzling true freshman season in 2018 in which he caught 46 passes for a team-leading 1,000 yards with nine touchdowns in 15 games. He announced his presence on the game’s biggest stages as a freshman, catching six passes for 148 yards with two touchdowns in the Cotton Bowl and six passes for 153 yards with one touchdown in the College Football Playoff National Championship.

He was diagnosed with his injury during the spring of 2020 and is over a year removed from surgery.

"I ain't going to lie, there was no Plan B. It was always focusing on one thing," he said. "It was hard. Just the not knowing part. If I would’ve known if I couldn’t play at all, that would have made it easier. Just the curiosity, that was messing with me a lot.

"I shed a tear. Just because of how it came off. It came off as like, ‘You probably won’t ever play again.’ This is something that I’ve been working for my whole life, since I was a kid. To have it taken away from me like that, that’s real hard."

He said he didn’t know he had been cleared until last week.

"Coach Swinney called me in his office. I honestly didn't know what he was going to say," Ross said. "He ended up telling me that I was able to play. It was beautiful. I had 100 percent confidence it was going to happen, but it was always that curiosity not knowing for sure."

Now he says he is ready to take on Georgia in the season opener in Charlotte.

"I'm the same J-Ross,” he said, "If it's up to me, I'm ready to go play the full four-quarter game. I don't have any fear at all. I'm ready to play. I'm ready, man. I can't wait."

He knows he will likely line up across from Kendrick, one of his good friends and an offseason transfer from Clemson to Georgia, once the ball is kicked off.

"Oh, yeah — it’s gonna be real fun," Ross said. "That’s like one of my best friends. So we’re gonna go at it. My sophomore year, he was the only person who used to guard me (in practice). So we’ve been going at it for a minute."