Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney announced Thursday evening that junior defensive end Xavier Thomas contracted COVID-19 during the time since spring practice, struggled with the virus, and then fought a bad case of strep throat.
As a result, Thomas is behind the rest of the team in his conditioning and Swinney said the team hopes to redshirt the South Carolina native this season. Swinney said the coaching staff wants Thomas to be at his full potential and won’t rush his comeback.
“X has probably had more on him than anybody since March,” Swinney said. “He was having a great spring, was super excited about this season and really had a lot of goals about what he wanted to do this summer to really ready himself for a big year.