The Clemson football program is facing some potential availability issues for its game against the Georgia Bulldogs this Saturday.
A rumor began to circulate through the internet on Wednesday that the Tigers could be without a few key starters, one due to COVID protocol and the others due to injuries. Of course, the injury rumors started on Georgia message boards.
Those three players were DT Tyler Davis, WR Justyn Ross and S Nolan Turner.
Dabo Swinney was asked specifically about the availability of Tyler Davis following practice on Wednesday and he gave a very vague answer.
"“We’re not going to confirm anything other than Saturday,” Swinney said. “We’ll let everyone know (then) who’s available and who’s not. Unless we’ve got somebody with a long-term injury that we talked about, we’re going to roll with the same policy we had last year.”"
Reading between the lines, Clemson football is going to be without Tyler Davis. But what about Ross and Turner?
Swinney is obviously shading his player availability because he doesn’t want to give away any competitive advantage. But, when you give an answer like that pertaining to a specific player, it pretty much gives away the fact that they won’t be playing.
But what about Ross and Turner?
From everything we’ve heard, both Ross and Turner are still available for this game. There is a rumor, which originated on UGA message boards, that Ross broke his foot but there is no confirmation of that and that doesn’t look to be the case.
Still, Dabo Swinney is keeping everything close to the vest and there is this major fog that is being put up intentionally as to not release any information. We’ll also mention that Clemson is at a disadvantage compared to other schools throughout this season because the University is mandating that students, regardless of vaccination status, be tested every week.
At this point, we’re going to have to play the wait-and-see game. Clemson will release its availability chart at some point on Saturday– likely in the afternoon– and that’s when we’ll know for sure. Until then, it’s all just rumor and speculation.
One final thing we’ll note here. UGA may be facing some COVID problems of its own. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that UGA Director of Sports Medicine Ron Courson has tested positive. The AJC reported that Courson is in contact with players on a regular basis.
"“More concerning, however, is the fact that Courson’s role in the athletic department puts him in physical contact with virtually every member of the football team, especially those that are injured,” it said."