The Clemson defense has been strong this season, and they could get even stronger with the possible return of safety Tyler Venables.
Tigers’ head coach, Dabo Swinney, met with the media Tuesday and shared that Venables is back to practice and playing on the scout team this week. Having hip surgery in the summer, Venables has been redshirting this season, and it sounds like the plan is still a redshirt season.
“This week, the plan for him is to do scout team all week because he really hasn’t played football since the spring,” Swinney said. “So, he’s going to take all the reps on the scout team and see how he responds this week. So, that’d be a real shot in the arm, too, to have him available down the stretch and preserve his redshirt.”
If the Tigers can preserve his redshirt and get him back on the field this season, that would be huge. During his career with Clemson, Venables has recorded 98 tackles (5.5 for loss), a sack, an interception, and seven pass breakups in 716 defensive snaps over 34 games (two starts).
We will wait to see how his status updates over the next week.