Malcolm Greene is out this spring, but it hasn’t stopped Clemson’s defensive back from letting his voice be heard in the secondary.
The rising junior cornerback has been the Tigers’ primary nickel when healthy, but Greene is still working his way back from offseason surgery on his shoulder, an injury that limited him to 10 games a season ago. But fellow defensive backs Jalyn Phillips and Andrew Mukuba said Greene is the best trash talker Clemson has got among the group, and he’s done plenty of chirping at the receivers from the sideline.
“Malcolm is hurt, but you’re going to hear him every single day. I promise you,” said Phillips, who’s in line to take over for the departed Nolan Turner at free safety. “He brings the energy every day.”
Mukuba said Greene isn’t shy about getting on his teammates in the secondary, too, if he notices something that needs to be corrected, though that isn’t exclusive to Greene. Phillips said that goes for all the defensive backs as they try to hold each other accountable.
“We’re all going to let each other know at the end of the day,” Phillips said.
But Mukuba said Greene “talks trash a lot,” which, in his opinion, isn’t always a bad thing.
“He gets the juice going for everybody out here,” said Mukuba, who’s coming off a freshman All-America season at strong safety. “To be honest, I kind of feed off of Malcolm.”
Greene has 31 tackles, four pass breakups and an interception in 22 career games with his only three starts coming as a freshman in 2020. In his absence, rising sophomore linebacker Barrett Carter and even Mukuba in certain packages are among those who’ve gotten reps at nickel this spring.
As for who the best trash talker is among the receivers, Mukuba said it’s E.J. Williams, who’s also out this spring recovering from knee surgery.