Clemson defensive tackle Vic Burley has been forced to play some catch-up after his suspension.

Head coach Dabo Swinney acknowledged last month before Clemson’s Week 3 game vs. North Carolina that Burley was working to catch up in terms of his conditioning after missing time away from the team.

On Tuesday, ahead of this Saturday’s game against Charleston Southern at Memorial Stadium (12 p.m., ACC Network), Swinney gave the latest update on how Burley has been progressing and working his way back into playing shape.

Swinney says the 6-foot-4, 315-pound senior is working hard on a daily and weekly basis while being pushed by defensive tackles coach Nick Eason.

“Just day-to-day. Just day in, day out, he’s over there grinding with Nick, and Nick’s pushing him,” Swinney said. “He’s just, again, week-to-week, day-to-day. We’re still waiting to kind of see it show up on gameday, but he’s doing the work.”

Swinney added that he’s “not disappointed” in Burley and how he’s coming along.

“Not disappointed in him,” Swinney said. “He’s showing up, he’s working hard, he’s practicing these past two weeks. That last week and this week will be big weeks for him. And I think the biggest thing for him, too, is just confidence, and then just being detailed in his craft. So, nothing bad.”

Burley has appeared in three games this season. He missed the season opener at LSU on Sept. 5 while serving his suspension and did not play in the Week 2 game vs. Georgia Southern, but made his season debut in Week 3 vs. North Carolina, recording his first career fumble recovery in the contest.

Burley logged nine snaps against the Tar Heels, then played four snaps in the Week 4 game at Cal and seven snaps in Clemson’s most recent game vs. Miami on Oct. 3. He has not yet recorded any statistics other than his fumble recovery.

Burley is listed as a backup at one of the defensive tackle spots on Clemson’s latest depth chart for the Charleston Southern game.

Last month, Burley was reinstated from his indefinite suspension following his late August arrest on public disorderly conduct charges. Swinney said that the veteran defensive tackle “paid the price” for his off-the-field mistake and showed that he deserved to rejoin the team, taking full ownership and accountability for his actions. Swinney noted that while Burley made a “dumb decision” and “needed a wake-up call,” he earned his opportunity to rejoin his teammates.

With this being his fourth season in the program, Burley was expected to take on a much larger role this season. However, he missed a significant amount of time during fall camp, even before the arrest.

Over his first three seasons, Burley was credited with 24 tackles, 0.5 tackles for loss and a pass breakup, having logged 267 snaps over 21 games.

Burley arrived at Clemson as a five-star and top-50 national recruit in the 2023 class, per 247Sports. During his final season at Warner Robins (Ga.) High School, he earned 5A Defensive Player of the Year honors. He was highly productive in 47 career games at the prep level, recording 188 tackles, 55 tackles for loss and 22 sacks. He also had an impressive 138 quarterback hurries.

When Burley arrived at Clemson, expectations were extremely high due to his high school pedigree. However, injuries derailed his freshman campaign, and he missed the entire season.

The following season, he logged less than 100 snaps. Last season, Burley did appear in all 13 games, recording 15 tackles, 0.5 tackles for loss and a pass breakup in 175 defensive snaps. He flashed back in March during the annual Orange and White spring game, finishing with three tackles, 2.5 sacks and a pass breakup.