Fall camp is the time for figuring out the starters ahead of the 2026 season, but the Clemson Tigers might be without one of their best players on the defensive line ahead of the season.
On Monday this week, the media was able to watch practice for several stints, and one thing stood out: a yellow non-contact jersey. Fourth-year tackle Vic Burley was wearing that during the week, being limited in practice, as the media viewed.
Head coach Dabo Swinney didn’t have many updates about Burley’s status the following day during his availability to the media.
“I don’t know,” he said when asked about the severity of his injury. “I don’t think so.”
Burley came into the program as a five-star recruit, being listed as a consensus top 80 player in the entire country while coming to the Tigers over several other top schools. While fans have awaited a breakout year for the Warner Robins, Ga., native, injuries have continued to hurt the status of the graduate player.
It is a new injury, however, but Swinney does expect Burley to be back before the regular season begins against LSU on Sept. 5.
“I mean, I think he’s day-to-day, but I’ll see,” he said.
Burley joined the program during the 2023 season, but fought knee injuries throughout the year that had him sidelined during his freshman season. Over the last two years, he has slowly become more apparent on Clemson’s defense, recording his first start against Penn State in the Pinstripe Bowl last December to conclude the season.
Then, when the spring came around, people expected a breakout year.
The Tigers’ spring game saw Burley finish with 2.5 sacks at the end of March, saying that after the departure of key tackles DeMonte Capehart and Peter Woods, it was his time to stand out and take his “opportunity to shine.” However, depending on the severity of the injury, it will depend on if he can do that to begin 2026.
Clemson has plenty of players in the position group, however, who can make noise for the group.
Swinney added Oklahoma transfer Markus Strong to aid efforts, with hopes to plug a hole that Capehart and Woods left after leaving for the NFL Draft. Sophomore Amare Adams is another five-star who will wait his turn, and the opportunity could mean he can make noise this fall ahead of a difficult LSU matchup.
Don’t sleep on junior-college transfer Andy Burburija, however, who has had praise for his college-ready size that could provide the Tigers with a piece ready to play entering 2026.
However, to a position group that is already broken down by Kourtney Kelly, who tore his ACL in the spring, and Hevin Brown-Shuler, who was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma this summer, Swinney wants to see more from the group before they head to Baton Rouge at the end of the month.
“They’re not there yet. We’ve got work to do,” he said. “We play three weeks from Saturday, we’re not ready to play. We’re not game-ready yet. That’s the biggest thing. We’ve had some guys that’ve flashed. They care a lot. . .just got to keep doing the work.”
Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow
#Key #Clemson #Defensive #Tackle #Limited #Practice #Dabo #Swinney #Updates #Status