Dabo Swinney updates injury status of key Clemson football starter, praises position group

USA Today

2 days ago

The Clemson Tigers held their first live game of fall camp Saturday.
Afterwards, Tigers coach Dabo Swinney gave injury updates for starting safety Khalil Barnes and cornerback Jeadyn Lukus, as well as offensive lineman Dietrick Pennington.
"Pennington was there," Swinney told reporters afterwards. "(Lukus) is probably more like Monday. Tuesday he should be back rolling. We'll see where he's at."
While Barnes was a no-go Saturday, Swinney praised the safeties group in his absence.
"Safeties have actually been a bright spot for us," he said. "I try to find the good in everything. I hate that Khalil has been out for a few days, but it's kind of forced the opportunity for Ronan (Hanafin) and Ricardo (Jones) and Kylon Griffin. (Rob) Billings and (Kylen) Webb and those guys are getting a ton of work."
Barnes has been dealing with what Swinney called a "short-term" injury after Wednesday's practice. He started all all 14 games last year and had four interceptions and three pass breakups. That followed a standout freshman season as an All-American in which he had five tackles for loss, three forced fumbles and six pass breakups.
"Our safety group has actually been a really bright spot at camp even with Khalil not out there," Swinney said. "We all know what he is and what he can do. We'll get him back at some point, but I think that group as a whole, the arrow's up by them. Good competition."
Lukus, a senior who started 10 games at cornerback a season ago and had 34 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and seven pass breakups, was in a yellow, no-contact jersey a day not long after fall camp opened on July 30.
Swinney also revealed that a top freshman, defensive lineman Amare Adams, was held out of Saturday's scrimmage.
"He kind of sprained his ankle a little bit yesterday... so he wasn't able to go today, but he'll be back soon," Swinney said of Adams, a five-star recruit who ranked as the nation's No. 2 defensive lineman in 247Sports' class of 2024 recruiting rankings.
Dabo Swinney on first live game of Clemson fall camp 2025
"It was a competitive day, really competitive on both sides. Got a lot done. We really had a very controlled, probably six to nine live plays earlier in the week, but this was the first time to really just go play the ball, you know, where it is. Just have to react to the situations. We had ACC refs here today. Really tried to create a good game feel for the coaches, too, just as much as the players, especially because we got a couple new people from an operations standpoint.
"Again, very competitive. It was good to see defense. They had a couple scores early. Branden Strozier had a big play. Tink had a big play to kind of set the tone early in the day. And then offense battled back, made some big plays. It was probably one of the more competitive scrimmages honestly that we've had in a while since as far as the first scrimmage. For whatever reason... that first scrimmage, sometimes one side just has a better day than the others."
Why Dabo Swinney was 'pissed' during Clemson practice Saturday
Swinney continued after Saturday's live game:
"I thought there were moments from my seat, I was mad at the offense and I was mad at the defense, and then I'd be happy with the offense and happy with the defense, then I was pissed again. You know, from my experience, that's usually not a bad thing when you got both sides that really competed, I've been around some where it's just a bad day, and then a lot of times they'll rally back the next day. But it was some good and bad on both sides. Very competitive. A lot of guys flashed and got some really good work, on all the field zones."
Watch Swinney's full press conference after Saturday's practice below.
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