By Will Vandervort.
Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson told Fox 21 in Greenville that he is on track for a full recovery after off-season surgery to repair the ACL in his left knee.
The story says Watson plans to start running in March and that he will fully be cut loose by the training staff sometime in June or early July. Clemson is expected to open fall camp on Aug. 4.
The true freshman had ACL surgery in December just a few weeks after he threw for 269 yards and two touchdowns, while rushing for two more scores in a 35-17 victory over South Carolina in the regular season-finale.
Watson missed five games last season due to injuries. He broken his finger in the Louisville game and had surgery which kept him out for three games. He later tore his ACL at Georgia Tech when he went down while running towards the end zone.
After the South Carolina game, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney and Watson agreed it was in his best interest and the team’s best interest if he went ahead and had surgery. That caused him to miss the Tigers’ 40-6 victory over Oklahoma in the Russell Athletic Bowl.
Watson told Fox 21 that he is eager to return to the field and show people he is a durable athlete that can be counted on. He has hated the fact that he has not been able to participate in mat drills and workouts with his teammates this winter.
“It’s kind of hard on the sidelines,” he said in a Jan. 22 interview with Fox Carolina. “I love the grind and being out there with my teammates.”
But Watson has not pouted about it. He has been doing everything he can to get healthy, which has him away ahead of schedule according to Swinney earlier this month.
“He’s a genetic freak, he really is,” Swinney said. “Same thing mentally, the kid is off the charts. How he responds, it’s like nothing I’ve ever seen.”
Watson says it is a part of just getting himself back on the field.
“Just taking it one day at a time, and hopefully when the summer rolls around, they’ll let me do some more,” he said.
Watson is projected by many to be the class of the ACC in 2015, while also a dark horse candidate for the Heisman Trophy. All the Clemson quarterback wants to do now is get back on the football field.
“I can’t wait to get out there again,” he said.
Neither can Clemson.