Dabo Swinney shares medical update on Fred Davis

Clemson Tigers defensive back Fred Davis was still too injured to play on Saturday versus Syracuse but the team managed to pull out the win without him. According to head coach Dabo Swinney, Davis was nearly ready to play but ultimately, he made the final call after going through pregame warmups.

“He went through pregame and he just, his ankle, he didn’t think his ankle would hold up,” Swinney said. “He thought he was going to be able to go but he came up after pregame and he just didn’t think he’d be able to do it.”

The junior out of Jacksonville, Florida has 15 tackles on the season, as well as two fumble recoveries. Despite the injury hiccup, it’s still his most productive season at Clemson yet.

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Davis signed with the Tigers as a top-100 prospect and a four-star recruit. He was No. 58 nationally and the No. 8 cornerback in the country in the 2020 class, according to the On3 Consensus.

Given that Davis was almost ready to play on Saturday in Week 8, he should be more than ready to help the Tigers battle Notre Dame on Nov. 5.

Along with teammate Malcolm Greene, Davis is currently in the midst of a civil suit after allegedly racing and crashing their vehicle into a USPS carrier vehicle, injuring the driver.

Swinney confirms no permanent change at QB

Swinney did what he had to do at quarterback to beat Syracuse, but don’t expect Cade Klubnik to usurp DJ Uiagalelei just yet.

Uiagalelei hit the bench after he threw his second interception of the day, which brought his stat line to 138 passing yards and two picks. Afterward, Klubnik came in and led multiple scoring drives to bring the Tigers the victory.

Speaking with the media postgame, Swinney remained steadfast that Uiagalelei is still his starting quarterback moving forward.

“As far as DJ, you know as I said after the game, DJ’s our starter. DJ’s our leader. Ain’t nothing changed there. Y’all can go ahead and type that up. He’s our leader, he’s our starter. He just had one of them days,” stated Swinney. “Again, missed a few plays, but he’s earned that. I’ll go to battle with that guy any day. Obviously, he’s got to clean it up a little bit, from some of the things he did today, but he will. He will.

“For Cade to be able to go in there and the team to be able to see him be ready, I think that really serves us well as we continue to move forward into the latter part of the season here.”

Alas, Swinney’s comments echo what he told ESPN’s Molly McGrath after the game on the field, where he likened Uiagalelei’s struggles to NBA superstar Stephen Curry having an off night, while praising Klubnik’s ability to come in off the bench.

On3’s Steve Samra contributed to this report.