Dabo Swinney Provides Update on Christopher Vizzina's Injury Ahead of Miami

Though Vizzina is off the injury report for a second straight week, he's still working his way back to 100%.

With Clemson QB Christopher Vizzina still nursing his way back from a fracture in his non-throwing arm, former walk-on Trent Pearman is now the backup for the Tigers. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Heading into one of, if not the team’s hardest matchup of the year, against No. 4 Miami on Saturday night, Clemson quarterback Christopher Vizzina remains off the injury report.

Head coach Dabo Swinney said on Wednesday that the redshirt junior has continued to make progress in his range of motion, even while practicing with a brace.

“He’s better. You know, it’s just a small fracture in there, but he’s gotten better and better. His range of motion is getting better,” Swinney said. “Again, it’s a daily thing. He’s practicing, he can throw, you know, but he’s still not 100% on his left arm. If he plays, he plays with a brace on it to protect it. But it’s really more just the range of motion for him, kind of getting that back fully. But it’s gotten a little better each day.”

However, when asked whether Vizzina would be the backup heading into the matchup, since he's listed as the No. 2 quarterback on the team's depth chart, Swinney essentially said he's the emergency option and that former walk-on Trent Pearman will be the second-string.

“No, it’d be Trent [Pearman],” he told reporters. “Trent would go right now, you know, he’s 100%. [Vizzina] would play if we had to have him, but, you know, again, he’s not 100% with his left arm, so we would go with Trent first.”

As most fans know, the Tigers’ quarterback situation has been a hot topic for months, and the chatter hasn't slowed down, whether the conversation centers on true freshman Tait Reynolds or Vizzina.

Vizzina was initially named the starter for the Tigers' season opener against LSU, but that changed quickly after a 51-10 blowout loss in Baton Rouge. Ahead of the Week 2 home opener against Georgia Southern, the pair of signal callers were named co-starters.

Even with no official starter named, Vizzina yet again got the chance to trot out first versus the Eagles. However, his play didn’t last long in the contest, with him injuring his non-throwing arm on just the third offensive drive of the game. 

Following the victory, Swinney addressed the injury, saying, “We wanted to get him back in there, but his left arm was basically numb.”

The injury turned out to be a minor fracture, and while Vizzina was listed as probable on the availability report heading into the team’s Week 3 ACC opener against North Carolina, he never ended up playing a snap. 

He was then taken off the injury report ahead of last week’s road contest against Cal, but yet again, he didn’t see any playing time. 

With Vizzina still working his way back to 100%, Reynolds, who is 2-0 as a starter, will continue to lead the charge and look to pull off an upset over the Hurricanes, who are currently favored by 17.5 points.

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Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET from Memorial Stadium, and the game will be broadcast on ABC.

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