Kelly Bryant on his status for Friday: "We'll see how it goes"

Bryant does interviews in his walking boot

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Sat Oct 07 17:05:20 GMT-04:00 2017

CLEMSON – Kelly Bryant limped into the postgame interview area with the training staff’s largest walking boot on his size 15 left foot, and his status for Friday night’s road contest at Syracuse is questionable.

Bryant suffered the injury to his ankle during the third quarter of Clemson’s 28-14 victory over Wake Forest Saturday afternoon in Death Valley. The injury came when he was hit on running back Travis Etienne’s one-yard touchdown run that put Clemson ahead 21-0.

Bryant walked gingerly to the sidelines and into the medical tent and never returned, and he told reporters after the game that he didn’t feel he could continue.

“I just got hit high and got hit low and just rolled my ankle, so I'll be in treatment all week recovering from it,” Bryant said. “I didn't want to force it and make it worse than what it was. I tried on the sideline running on it and it wasn't feeling too good, so I didn't want to rush it and try to go back out and hurt myself anymore.”

He said the injury was to the lower part of his ankle, and he’ll have to see how he feels this week before predicting if he’ll be ready for Friday night’s road game in the Carrier Dome in Syracuse.

“I just have to go through treatment throughout the week, try to prepare myself, get my body back under me and get ready for Friday and we'll see how it goes,” Bryant said.

Once Bryant went out, freshmen Zerrick Cooper and Hunter Johnson took over with Johnson leading the Tigers on a touchdown drive that ended with a 13-yard scoring toss to tight end Cannon Smith. Before Cooper took the field, Bryant said he had a special message for the Georgia native.

“This is why he came here. Next man up. Be ready,” Bryant said. “I told Hunt (Hunter Johnson) the same thing. Those guys were ready. They went out there and performed. I'm so proud of those guys. They've been preparing their butts off for the opportunity like that.”

The Tigers jumped out to a quick 14-0 lead in the first quarter but stalled until Etienne’s third-quarter score.

“We were putting together long drives, but we weren't finishing them,” Bryant said. “Turnovers, my fumble, I threw an interception on a bad decision by me. It was just small stuff like that. It was little things with us, so we just have to be more consistent when we put those drives together.”

Bryant was asked about the inconsistency with the offense, and he said it’s hard to complain when you’re undefeated.

“We're 6-0 so everything is looking good to me. We just have to be more consistent,” he said. “Coach Swinney told us we have to be a more consistent group, so we're going to take it, be better and work at it and try to put four quarters of Clemson football together.

“We got the win, so I'm good. It's great and I'm enjoying it. I’ll get in the film room and treatment room trying to recover and get back.”