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CLEMSON -- Clemson head football coach Dabo Swinney addressed members of the media Tuesday, this time to preview his team's upcoming opponent this weekend - Boston College.

ALSO SEE: Clemson's verbal commitments | Tuesday Insider Notes | Recruiting Big Board: Defensive End | Monday Insider | Monday Clemson Football Update

The following is an edited transcript of Swinney's news conference.

-- "BC could easily be 5-1 right now. Jeff has gotten a couple of transfer guys in there. He has done a great job of figuring out what their strengths are. This will be a tough, tough challenge for us. All of those offensive linemen are back. It's a big, physical, BC offensive line. They have played a lot of ball together. They are confident. What's different about them is that they are throwing the ball all over the place. They're not necessarily dropping back. There are play-actions, screens, nakeds, boots. They do a great job with their bunch sets.

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"Their quarterback is athletic, crafty, he extends and creates. He transferred in from Notre Dame. He's hard to bring down. You can tell their team believes in him. It's going to be a challenge for our defense to sort things out. All three of their backs can run. Their tight end is leading them in receiving. He makes a ton of competitive plays."Defensively, these guys are very well-coached and positioned. You can see Jeff's influence from what we saw at Ohio State. He is a detailed coach, a fundamental coach and they challenge you. They have a couple of transfers in up front who have helped them. They are relentless to get to the ball. You rarely see them out of position.

-- "If we have a guy who has been out for awhile. I did not find out until last night. We got an MRI back late. After we tested him last night, we got a quick MRI. He will have a scope (surgery), so he will be out for a few games. That's a big loss for us. We have a few other guys banged up. Skalski will miss a few games, unfortunately. We will get him back in a few games. We'll have to see how he responds to the scope. He's a great player and a senior. I hate that he'll miss at least one more home game. We'll get him back as soon as we can."

-- Your level of confidence on Tyler Davis' return soon: "I'm very confident he will be able to come back soon. He is progressing very well. Pretty confident."

-- What has impressed you most about your defense this fall? "Our preparation and guys being ready. Our defense is not easy. There are a lot of moving parts. All of those zoom meetings from March and into July, it's a reflection of that. Mentally, we were further along coming into camp. It has allowed us to have more functional depth early. Jake Venables is a good player, a third-year player. We feel good about him. We have developed some depth up front. Bresee is not a freshman anymore. Nyles Pinckney and Jordan Williams have played a lot of ball for us. We use the best personnel we have from week to week, so we have some flexibility within our scheme that allows us to do what need to do to give ourselves the best chance to win."

-- Update on Mike Jones: "He's day to day. This time of year you have some guys who are moving a little slow from Sunday to Monday. He could play. He may not. I don't know. We'll see where he is this afternoon and as we go throughout the week. Hopefully he'll be back this weekend."

-- Evaluating BC tight end Hunter Long: "He's just a big body. He's a great, competitive, finisher. He catches a lot of balls with people just hanging on him. This guy plays big and fits well within their scheme. He is a big security blanket for them. He is 6'5 and plays bigger than 6'5. He is a good matchup challenge for us."

-- Update on Justin Foster: "I'm hopeful he'll be back this year. He's still unavailable right now."

-- On Brent Venables' working relationship with his sons: "No different than myself with my kids. You coach them like everyone else. Everyone has a job to do. If you do your job, no one will say too much. If you're not, you'll hear about it."

-- On Tyler Venables' feel for the game: "It's rare for a freshman. T-bone could play safety, nickel or dime. He has a foundation of knowledge that is unique for a young player. He played quarterback in high school. He was as good as there was in the state. This guy is a baller. Now you're playing safety and that's like being a quarterback on defense. That has helped him. He has been coached for a long time. He was a good defensive player in high school. We offered him in the 10th grade. There was no doubt on him. I have known him as T-bone since I met him. That's how Brent introduced him to me. You think about this happy dog with a big T-bone. He is a ball of fire."

-- Nolan Turner's continued production: "There's no question he deserves more attention nationally. He is as good a safety as we have had come through here in my 18 years at Clemson. He is playing as well as any safety we have had. His knowledge, technique, leadership, fundamentals, it's off the charts. He's been making plays for awhile now. He took it to another level last year. He is a great story. He is what it is all about.

"That's what I hate about the recruiting process. It just drives me crazy how it gets so labeled. If they're 5 stars and they're not starting as freshmen ... the expectations people put on them. You have to hang in there. It's just different. Guys get rated as 5 stars because of just talent but they don't necessarily have a football foundation. This is a developmental game. You don't just plug a guy in. Sometimes we put pressure on these kids. It's like if they're not starting as freshmen, something is wrong.

"On the flip side, people say the only reason Nolan is here is because Dabo knew his dad. So there's that kind of narrative. But he's as good as we have had. He puts the work in. We have not had a safety who has played better. That's the story. That's the lesson. Don't panic as a young player. Get better, be coachable. Same thing as fans. Don't be so judgmental if he doesn't start as a freshman. This is not an easy game."

-- The possibility of Clemson being more involved in taking transfers: "Let's be accountable in our evaluation process. We are a developmental program. We're not a quick-fix program. We never have been. It's just not our philosophy. If I were somewhere else, that might be my philosophy. Who knows. I have no idea. There is zero consequences to leave. If a guy just leaves, who knows. Maybe you have to get into the transfer world if you have a bunch of guys leave. I have no idea. I hope not. If that has to be what we have to do, we will have to evaluate that down the road."

-- On Cade Stewart: "We beat Georgia Southern for Cade Stewart, but Cade Stewart is a great football player."

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