MASH unit: Swinney updates injuries, says he has to alter practice schedule

Will Taylor is helped off the field Saturday.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Mon Oct 04 18:27:03 GMT-04:00 2021

Dabo Swinney’s Clemson football team is battling so many injuries he’s unsure if they would be able to play if there was a game this week, and the injuries are affecting how the team will approach practice during this week’s open date.

The Tigers are off this week and will travel to Syracuse for a Friday night game on Oct. 15th. During last Saturday’s win over Boston College, Will Taylor suffered a torn ACL and several other players missed time due to injuries, including tight end Braden Galloway and wide receiver Justyn Ross.

Swinney said the open date will help.

"The open date comes at a good time for us. We are a MASH unit. We have a lot of guys who would have a hard time playing this week,” Swinney said Monday. “We can get a head start on Syracuse and get healthy. Will Taylor tore his ACL. Like most ACL injuries, this one was non-contact. He is a resilient young man. We've had a lot of success with guys getting back from that injury around here. Hopefully Will will be able to get some of the baseball season in during the spring.”

Both Ross and Galloway are in concussion protocol, and he hopes both are ready for Syracuse.

"They're doing good. Galloway was more concussed. Ross got hit in the head area,” Swinney said. “They're going to be cautious with him but he's great. Saw him today. I feel good about that. Hopefully by practice on Sunday, they will be ready to roll. They took Justyn out of the game and put him in protocol. His was just more precaution and they just wanted to make sure he was fine."

Swinney said that the injuries have forced him to change the practice schedule.

“We have to adjust a little bit. It's not a normal open date because our next game is on a Friday night,” he said. “So we'll have to practice on Sunday. As far as some of the competitive work we like to do in an open date, we won't be able to do that as much. Right now, we have to get some guys healthy. We have to get some bodies healed up and work on the basics and details. We need to get in some cross-over and self-scout stuff we will do as a staff. We have a good plan as far as how we're going to be on the field and when."

Swinney said that Fred Davis (ankle), Mario Goodrich (groin), Malcolm Greene (shoulder), and Will Putnam (toe) are all battling injuries but he hopes to have them back by Sunday.

He said he was proud of the way his group competed in the win Saturday.

"Just proud of our guys, proud of the staff and how everyone responded to get a huge win on Saturday. Our team's will to win is special,” Swinney said. “They're resilient. A lot of good things in the game but a long way to go. Still, our most complete game. We just worked together a lot better.

"Defensively and offensively the key was going to be winning the line of scrimmage and we did that. We stopped the run and we got the run going," Swinney said. "We had much better penalty discipline and our depth came through. The biggest negative was that it was our worst game from a pass defense standpoint ... just too many yards after the catch, too. Offensively, we were very balanced, almost 16 yards a completion and almost six yards a carry. The offensive line played outstanding ... by far our best game communication-wise. Phil Mafah was great. DJ probably had his best game in terms of managing the pocket.”