As the season draws near, second-ranked Clemson is in the final stretch of preparations for opening weekend against Furman on Saturday at Death Valley. Tre Lamar took the time on Tuesday afternoon to talk to the media.

Lamar on how it will feel to be back

“Having the injury was a difficult time for me. Missing those couple games, I would have liked to play in them but staying out there for this first game knowing that I did all my rehab and came back will be just the best feeling.”

Lamar on how he’s grown in the past two years

“Mentally my freshman year I think I just had a hard time grasping everything. I’ve really worked my hardest to become a better player and a better man now that I’m here. Just becoming a field general and knowing exactly what to do, I feel like there’s been in me and me and my coaches can see it. I think Clemson’s done a really great job.”

Lamar on how playing with Clemson’s D-line effects his game

“When you’ve got guys especially like Dexter (Lawrence) and Christian (Wilkins) in the middle. They require doubles teams all the time which doesn’t allow a guard to say, combo up to me. It makes gaps a lot bigger and a lot easier to see and it makes sure your reads and fall back gaps are much easier to get to.”

Lamar on development in pass coverage

“For me, I didn’t do a lot of pass coverage in high school or prior so I didn’t have a lot of experience. But going through these last couple of years, just watching the film and knowing the pass routes better and combinations I could get helped me a lot in pass coverage. I think you’ll see my growth over these next couple games.”

Lamar on Clemson defensive depth

“I think the depth on Clemson’s defense is an incredible thing and it shows that everyone is getting meaningful snaps. Not just end of the game snaps but meaningful snaps during the game which means that everybody can get in there and play at a high level. This means we won’t have a drop off to second to third or fourth team even.”