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Tigers Today: Clemson struggles at Superdome carry over to NFL

Nakos updated headshotby:Pete Nakos08/24/21

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Trevor Lawrence
Trevor Lawrence threw three touchdowns, but had just as many interceptions in Jacksonville's season opener loss to Houston. (Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

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Clemson struggles at Superdome carry over to NFL

Trevor Lawrence went 34-2 in his Clemson career. His only two losses came at the Superdome in New Orleans.

On Monday night he returned to the site where the Tigers have never won a game. Lawrence and the Jacksonville Jaguars struggled. The No. 1 overall pick in April’s NFL Draft finished the night 14-of-23 for 113 yards. The rookie still hasn’t thrown a touchdown in two preseason games as the Jaguars offense continues to struggle.

The quarterback was sacked once and constantly had pressure in his face. He did have one impressive throw while facing imminent pressure, though.

Lawrence wasn’t the only Clemson product who had a rough Monday night. Travis Etienne only touched the ball two times for four total yards before he exited the game. Etienne was spotted postgame wearing a walking boot.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported early Tuesday morning that Etienne is out indefinitely with a mid-foot sprain.

Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network reported Tuesday morning that Etienne suffered a Lisfranc injury and will have further tests later Tuesday, which will determine how long he is out.

Jacksonville has a final preseason game to turn things around on Sunday at Dallas.

But the regular season is inching closer. And the Jags still have more question marks than answers.

Trevor Lawrence has baby giraffe named after him at Jacksonville Zoo

Trevor Lawrence was a Tiger at Clemson and now in the NFL as a rookie, a Jaguar in Jacksonville. 

As the first overall pick from last April’s NFL Draft spent the weekend preparing for the Monday night preseason tilt against the Saints, a significant announcement with a direct correlation to the Jags’ signal caller hit the airwaves. 

There is now another animal in Jacksonville named Trevor Lawrence.

READ MORE: Trevor Lawrence has baby giraffe named after him at Jacksonville Zoo

Update on Tigers fan day

Clemson will not hold a fan day prior to the Tigers season opener with Georgia on Sept. 4. The athletic department announced the update on Tuesday.

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Clemson had remained hopeful to hold the event on its typical late-August date, but this difficult decision is primarily out of an abundance of caution for the safety of the athletes, coaches and fans because of the typical proximity of interactions at the event.

The athletic department remains focused on providing a regular gameday experience on Sept. 11 when Clemson hosts SC State at Memorial Stadium.

Former rivals Will Shipley, Lannden Zanders bond as Tigers teammates

That Will Shipley has been impressive since arriving at Clemson isn’t a big surprise.

After all, the freshman from Weddington High in Matthews, N.C., was one of the top-ranked running backs in the country in the class of 2021 after a historically great prep career. But the fact that he is this good already has been a bit of an eye-opener.

One of the first to spot that was Landed Zanders. ClemsonSports.com senior writer Matt Connolly broke down the relationship between the two and how Zanders spotted Shipley’s talent.

Counting down

  • Clemson vs. Georgia (season opener): 11 days
  • Clemson at South Carolina: 95 days