Xavier Thomas’ debut featured a small sample size, but it was large enough to serve as a reminder of the impact Clemson’s veteran edge defender is capable of making.

And the Tigers are expecting Thomas’ role to increase as he continues to work his way back into the fold up front.

After five weeks of watching, waiting and healing, Thomas finally made his return to the field in the Tigers’ win over Boston College on Saturday. The senior defensive end said he still feels some soreness in his surgically repaired foot that he injured late during preseason camp, which not only had him on a pitch count against the Eagles but also relegated him to lining up only on one side of the line.

Thomas played just a few series, mostly on downs and distances that lent themselves to passing situations for Boston College. Thomas still got to the quarterback three times, recording half of the Tigers’ four sacks and forcing an errant throw with a pressure on another snap.

“Really proud of him and happy for him,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said Sunday. “That was a really fun thing to see and be a part of. He’s worked his tail off and obviously was having a great camp and was super disappointed when he got hurt. But he’s just kept the faith and kept doing what he needed to do, so for him to be able to come back and make an impact like that, it’s just going to give him the wind in his sails that I think he needs.”

Swinney said he didn’t see Thomas on Sunday after the team arrived back in Clemson other than spotting him in the training room. But he said he was hopeful Thomas would be able to increase his workload this week ahead of the Tigers’ trip to Florida State on Saturday.

“We’ll see where he is (Monday),” Swinney said, referring to how Thomas feels physically following his first game action of the season. “He was great after the game. But definitely expect him to ramp up his practice reps this week for sure.”

Clemson will take whatever it can get from Thomas at this point to help boost a pass rush that’s lacked consistency. With his two sacks Saturday, Thomas is just one behind Myles Murphy for the team lead in that category. The Tigers’ sack total against Boston College was a season-high.

“He’s not ready to go play 60 plays or anything like that yet, but we don’t need him to,” Swinney said. “We just need him to show up, be XT, be a factor and keep working his way back into full go.”

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