By Will Vandevort.
No surprise but Deshaun Watson is already working hard during his rehabilitation.
Just three days removed from having his anterior cruciate ligament surgically repaired in his left knee, the freshman, along with tight end Stanton Seckinger, was hobbling on his crutches Monday morning to Dabo Swinney’s office to let his head coach know he was back.
Seckinger had surgery last Thursday to repair his PCL and his MCL.
“Their attitudes are just tremendous,” Swinney said following Monday’s practice as the 17th-ranked Tigers’ prepare to play Oklahoma in the Russell Athletic Bowl on Dec. 29. “It is always good when you have someone else going through that with you so those two guys will be attached at the hip the next several months.
“They are both wired the same way and are very supportive.”
Swinney says Watson will continue to work on getting his knee better this week and will do the same at the bowl site. After the game, like the rest of the team, Watson will get a week off, but when they come back in January then he will amp up the process even more.
Both Watson and Seckinger will miss all of spring practice. They will be in the meetings, however, and they will be out doing everything mentally as far as practices goes. Swinney of course doesn’t know where Seckinger and Watson will be exactly in their individual recovery time because that will be based on how they respond to their treatment.
Clemson’s goal is to have Watson ready or at least close to ready when the team begins some workouts in May.
“Our goal is, by summer, have our leader out there to be able to lead the troops,” Swinney said. “Seckinger will be a senior and obviously Deshaun, and what he brings to the table, it will be great to have him out there with his command and presence kind of challenging the guys this summer.
“We are hoping and anticipating that to be a pretty certain thing, but you never know until you go through the process.”
You saw what you saw: In a season when Clemson has gone through a pretty good stable of running backs redshirt freshman Wayne Gallman emerged as the Tigers’ go-to back by season’s end.
After Zac Brooks broke his foot the last week of training camp, Clemson started the season with D.J. Howard, then moved to C.J. Davidson, then to Gallman, then to Adam Choice, back Davidson and Gallman, sprinkled in a little Tyshon Dye here and there, and then it was Gallman again.
Gallman leads the Tigers with 714 yards and four touchdowns, but 516 of those yards have come in the last five games, including 191 yards in Clemson’s win over the Gamecocks last month.
“As I said at the beginning of the season, ‘Ya’ll are going to like Wayne Gallman. At some point, he is going to be a really good player,’” Swinney said. “Guys have to learn. Guys have to go play. It doesn’t just happen, especially when you are dealing with a guy that was a wing-back (in high school). He really had not played a lot as a true running back and understanding the zone, the counter and the power and how we are running it and pass protection. There is just a lot going on.
“We really did not trust him at the very beginning of the season, but as the season wore on he got better and better and at the South Carolina game, you saw what you saw.”
Streeter brings the energy. Swinney believes new quarterbacks coach Brandon Streeter is already bringing a different vibe to the practice field. The Clemson head coach said his newest coach is lifting up his quarterbacks’ spirits due to his energy, especially senior Cole Stoudt.
“I like the look in his eyes and I think he is focused,” Swinney said.
“He is competing and that is what I like to see. He has done a nice job taking care of the ball these first few practices and that is the biggest thing we with me. Let’s take care of the football and let’s make good decisions and the rest will take care of itself.”