Clemson fans can finally feel at ease: “The laundry list” of injuries that held the team back last spring has been replaced with a much shorter list.
Swinney said only two players—offensive lineman Collin Sadler and tight end Olsen Patt-Henry—are actually out from the spring practice schedule altogether. But a number of the team’s best players will be wearing green or yellow jerseys as they go through a few things.
The headliner of a limited group is wide receiver Bryant Wesco Jr.
"He looks amazing. He's flying,” Swinney said of the explosive junior. "But he’s not going to do any live work. He will be doing all of the team separate stuff, the install, the timing with the quarterbacks, but no live contact."
Sophomore linebacker Sammy Brown, five-star, is another in the “ramping up” phase after wrist surgery. He plans to join players such as Elijah Thurman (shoulder) and Amari Adams, who will start on their own but will get into group exercises.
Swinney also pointed out that freshman WR TJ Moore and Cole Turner are recovering from similar lower-body operations and may not be ready for full "ramp-up" until the latter parts of March.
The overall health of the roster is a big plus for a spring that Swinney insists is about "foundational development." The Tigers now have more bodies for practice so they can concentrate on the ‘how and why´ of their scheme— blocking, tackling and footwork— instead of just surviving the sessions with a tapped-out depth chart.