Dabo Swinney Provides Injury Update on 8 Clemson Tigers Either Out or Limited

The Clemson Tigers entered fall camp on Thursday afternoon, the next stage in a 2025 campaign they are hoping ends with a National Championship.

In order to reach their ultimate goal, the Tigers, like any team, will need to have some luck with injuries across the course of the season. Head coach Dabo Swinney gave an injury update Thursday afternoon as practice opened, and he feels good about the overall health of his team.

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"The only real long-term injury, we've got a young linebacker named Billy Wilkes," said Swinney. "He tore his ACL in the spring game. So, he's kind of our only long-term guy."

Wilkes joined the Tigers as a preferred walk-on and appeared in one game last season on special teams. Clemson has several more players in limited action.

"You'll see some guys that are in green jersey that are really doing great," Swinney said. "They're just in kind of a ramp-up phase as far as when they'll be fully released to do everything. If you're in green, you're in practice. Green just means we're not going to have any live contact. They're going to do all the work, we're just going to avoid the live stuff with 'em.

"But Jay Haynes, Armand Mason, and Ari Watford, and Watson Young, those guys will be rolling pretty quickly. I think Watson's actually going to be full-go tomorrow (Friday). Those other three guys are all doing good. We've just got a good plan with our medical staff as far as their ramp-up into full go.

Haynes rushed for 295 yards on 43 attempts last season. He had 118 yards and two touchdowns against the Citadel. He suffered a torn ACL in the ACC Championship game. Being in a green jersey just eight months later is excellent progress.

Mason played in four games at defensive end last season and had 6 tackles. Watford is a freshman edge rusher who was rated four stars by 247Sports. Young is a redshirt freshman offensive lineman who became the first fourth-generation Clemson football player, according to his bio.

While not long-term injuries, Clemson does have some players who will be more limited than the green jerseys.

"Some guys that are in yellow today, Olsen Patt-Henry, Juju Preston, and Peyton Streko, not long-term but just out for a few days here or there," Swinney said. "Olsen had to have his tonsils out, so he's probably going to be a couple days late before he can get going. Juju's battling a little hamstring, and Streko is battling just a little shin pain.

"They're short-term. It could be two weeks, it could be six weeks, but that's kind of a short-term thing."

Swinney was eager to move to the next phase of preparation for the 2025 season by getting back on the field.

"Billy Wilkes is the only long-term guy at this point, so we're in a good spot. For the first time of this year, we have a chance to be a complete team getting out on the field," Swinney concluded.