CLEMSON – Storms were brewing in Clemson Monday, so the Clemson football team went inside to the comforts of the Poe Indoor Practice Facility for Day 3 of Fall Camp.

Following practice, Clemson defensive end Xavier Thomas spoke to the media about getting back to health and his sixth and final season in Tiger Town.

–Thomas opened up with high praise for sophomore quarterback Cade Klubnik by saying “he has definitely been working his tail off, putting in extra work and coming in here on his own… in regards to detail you can tell he is way more composed… and in regards to practice he is being a very vocal leader.” Thomas also cracked a joke at the end by crediting Klubnik’s work in the weight room, saying he “put on a lot of muscle this spring, so he is not a twig anymore.”

–As for the new offense under new offensive coordinator Garrett Riley, Thomas believes, “It is definitely a different energy around the group since the summer, doing things like skills and drills and mastering their route concepts… it can definitely spread your defense open, so it’s going to be fun to watch.”

–As for the shape and physicality of the sixth-year defensive end, he credits the results to what he was putting in his body by saying that it is “90 percent diet from his experience… just changing my eating habits,” which Thomas says was made possible during his time recovering from his injury. He continued to say he obviously has some personal goals, but at the end of the day he came back to win a National Championship. Through all the battles and struggles Thomas has endured during his time with the Tigers, he believes he is finally back to 100 percent and ready to make an immediate impact on the field.

–Thomas was relentless in saying that he believes this year’s defensive front is just as good as the group from 2018 that most remember as the Power Rangers. “We have really good young talented guys… that have a really good work ethic… all of the extra workouts available they were in attendance for.” Thomas expects freshman defensive tackle Peter Woods to step in and help Ruke Orhorhoro and Tyler Davis clog the gap in the middle of the defensive front, which in turn opens up the edge game for Justin Mascoll and himself to rack up some big numbers.

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