Tigers and Tee Higgins take time off to rest: "We need it bad."

Higgins says he hopes to rest his sore hamstring

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Tue Dec 04 13:29:06 GMT-04:00 2018

CHARLOTTE, NC – Fresh off a fourth consecutive ACC Championship, Clemson coaches and players are getting some much-needed time off.

No. 2 Clemson will take on No.3 Notre Dame later this month in the Cotton Bowl, but won’t start practicing for the bowl game for another eight days. That means time for bodies and minds to heal after 123 days of practices, meetings, and games.

Many of the coaches will hit the road recruiting, but defensive coordinator Brent Venables said everyone needs the break.

“Us coaches need the break. Are you kidding me? They all need to heal up, mentally and physically,” Venables said. “All of it. This will be a great week for them (the players). These guys need to get healthy and rested. They’ve worked their tails off.”

Defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence said the Tigers will focus on finishing the semester strong and getting healthy.

“We have a whole month to prepare for one team,” Lawrence said. “We get to get our bodies back under us. We get a week-and-a-half off or something like that. We will prepare the way we need to prepare and take care of our bodies and the rest of school and then come back and get after it.”

Wide receiver Tee Higgins said his tight hamstring has a chance to get better.

“We need it (the rest) bad. Especially me,” Higgins said. “My hamstring is tight. This is a chance to recover and get everything right and get ready for the next game. I’m good; it’s just been a little tight. This will be very valuable because everybody gets a rest and then we can come back and watch some film for the next team we play. It gives us time to focus on school a little bit more and cut out football for a minute.”

Defensive back AJ Terrell wants to rest.

“Yeah, I am going to take advantage of it,” Terrell said. “I am going to get my body right. The whole team will. We’ve worked hard, and we are going to rest up and come back ready to go.”

Co-offensive coordinator Jeff Scott says the time off will be beneficial in more than one way.

“The first thing I want is I want our players to get some rest,” Scott said. “They’ve been practicing for four straight months, and it’s difficult. Our guys will get the week completely off. It will be open-gym, and they can come in on their own. They will do a little running Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday and then we will start practice on Wednesday. So number one, I want them to recover. And then number two, as we come back, really just hone in on some of the details. We didn’t play a perfect game, and we haven’t all year long. There will be little things we will get corrected, but right now we are going to rest and enjoy this.”