When he addressed the media following Saturday’s victory over Wofford, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney reported the news on Mike Williams was being called a neck sprain. But a lot changed in 24 hours.
After the medical staff at Clemson reviewed the MRI test Williams had after being driven to The Oconee Medical Center in Seneca, they discovered he had a small fracture in his neck.
“We got the MRI back last night and they are saying he has a small fracture in his neck area,” Swinney said during his teleconference with the media on Sunday evening. “He is doing great. He is walking around. He has great movement and he will be going to class tomorrow.”
The good news is Williams is okay. Swinney reported Williams will not have to have surgery and he will be able to play football, again. As reported on Saturday, he was walking around signing autographs while wearing a neck brace following the 12th-ranked Tigers’ 49-10 victory over Wofford.
He will have to leave the neck brace on until the fracture heals.
Swinney said Williams will be reevaluated in about six weeks and they will know more at that time.
“When that is, I have no idea,” the Clemson coach said. “Just like anytime anybody else breaks a bone you have to reevaluate those things. I’m sure, in about six weeks or so, they will probably look at it. But it could be something that keeps him out all year. I really have no idea. The main thing to me is that he is okay and he will have an opportunity to play again whenever that is.”
Swinney said he was proud of the way Clemson’s medical staff handle Williams situation after he ran into the protecting padding on the goal post following his 4-yard touchdown reception from Deshaun Watson.
“We are really fortunate it wasn’t worse. Obviously, anytime you have an injury in that area, you are talking about a real serious thing. I can’t say enough of good things about our medical staff,” Swinney said. “They really did a great job. Mike wanted to get up and walk off the field yesterday, but our medical staff did a really good job of being cautious and making sure.
“Sure enough, with the MRI, he has a small fracture. It is going to heal up nice and the prognosis is great for him. We are just lucky that it was not worse and he is going to have an opportunity to play football again.”
As for who will replace Williams at his position? Swinney says they are fortunate because they have good depth and a lot of talent at the wide receiver position, but it will be hard to replace Williams’ experience, nonetheless.
“Mike is not only a good player, but he understands all of the nuances of not only the position but of the offense, He is very crafty,” Swinney said. “We can replace the talent for talent, but the experience is hard to replace.”
Swinney says one of things they have done a good job of since the spring is cross training a lot of the receivers. He said senior Charone Peake has worked a ton at Williams’ position on the boundary. Trevion Thompson, who had an excellent camp, will also be an option as will true freshman Deon Cain.
“We have some options as far as where we put those guys and how we cross train them so from that standpoint, talent wise, we are in good shape. But it does hurt us when you lose an experienced guy like Mike.”
Other notes. Swinney said he expects tight end Stanton Seckinger to play against Appalachian State next Saturday… Freshman wide receiver Ray Ray McCloud graded out higher than any other offensive player… Center Ryan Norton is okay after injuring his knee in the second quarter on Saturday. Swinney says he will miss practice on Monday but he is expected to practice on Tuesday and will play against the Mountaineers… Defensive tackle Rod Byers was a little banged up, but he will be okay to play… Left tackle Mitch Hyatt, in his first start, graded at 92 percent. Swinney said the offensive line as a whole did great and no one allowed a sack. The only sack of game was charged as Nick Schuessler’s fault.