Clemson quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei has not gotten off to the start he would have hoped for in 2021, and his struggles to this point in his sophomore season have been well documented.
After completing 69.4 percent of his passes for 781 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions in his two starts against Boston College and Notre Dame while filling in for Trevor Lawrence as a true freshman last season, Uiagalelei has completed 54.3 percent of his passes for 793 yards and three touchdowns with three interceptions through five games this season.
Former Florida State and NFL quarterback, and current ACC Network analyst E.J. Manuel joined the Gramlich and Mac Lain podcast with Kelly Gramlich and Eric Mac Lain and talked about the advice he would have for Uiagalelei amid his struggles this season.
“My biggest advice, Kelly, would be to relax,” Manuel said. “I’d tell D.J. to breathe, man. Like for one, because he has the weight of the world on his shoulders. You know, you’re the quarterback taking over for a true legend of Trevor Lawrence, a team that has the expectation that carried a torch for the ACC. Let’s be honest. It was kind of Clemson and everybody else for a long time.
“And here’s the funny thing, too — and I’ve heard Dabo say this multiple times — if they go out and make one or two plays in that Georgia game and they beat Georgia, the narrative’s completely different. That’s just true. Whether D.J. played well or not, if they won that game, the narrative is still different. And so I feel like for him, just get back in the saddle. You know, what that means is just get back up on the horse. You might be knocked down a little bit, but you’ve got a lot of football left to play.”
.@EJManuel3 knows what it’s like to be a QB at a major program under a lot of pressure. I asked him if he had any advice for DJU:
Full episode with EJ: https://t.co/iTo4zceeh2 pic.twitter.com/XfYfrqOT80
— Kelly Gramlich (@kellygramlich) October 6, 2021
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