Corey Clement’s season of uncertainty will continue this week.
The junior running back’s status for Saturday’s game against Illinois remains questionable, he told reporters Tuesday afternoon.
If he were to return, it would mark a seven-week hiatus from game action. The last time Clement took the field was during the season opener against Alabama Sept. 5.
“I’m still uncertain [about Saturday],” Clement said. “I’m just looking forward to the next day, not really pressing anything.”
Clement said he would travel with the team to Champaign this weekend and it will most likely be a game-time decision, depending how he feels when he wakes up Saturday.
As far as his health, Clement said he felt “awesome” at practice Tuesday. The remaining hurdles for Clement are both mental and physical, he said.
“I think those two go hand-in-hand,” Clement said. “I can only go out each day and try to perform at my best.”
Clement also said he still couldn’t reach his top speed in practice. He can usually hit above 20 miles per hour or more, but hasn’t done so yet.
“I need to do that to feel comfortable,” he said.
Clement announced he’d undergo surgery to repair a sports hernia Sept. 24, with the initial timetable for his recovery listed at four to six weeks. His expeditious recovery allowed him to get back to practice for last week and suit up for the Purdue game Oct. 17, but made the decision in the second half to not enter the game, calling last week a “stepping stone” to his return.
During practice, Clement has put himself in situations to get hit, he said, so that when his first game action comes about, it won’t be a shock.
UW offensive coordinator Joe Rudolph doesn’t expect to see a different Clement out there, regardless of when he returns.
“I expect Corey to be Corey. Nothing more and nothing less,” Rudolph said. “It’ll be fun. Getting his energy back would be good.”
And Clement knows it will be up to him to get the UW running game back on track.
“[The running game] isn’t where it’s supposed to be at this point,” Clement said. “My job is, being a leader of that running back group, you got to have a purpose when you come back and that’s to put numbers on the board and get this thing going.”
