Trevor Lawrence has contracted the coronavirus. According to Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network, the star Clemson Tigers quarterback has tested positive for COVID-19. The Tigers are slated to face the Boston College Eagles on Saturday. Rapoport said Lawrence will have to isolate for 10 days, which means he will miss Saturday’s game.
Lawrence is projected to be the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2021. He led the Tigers to a national championship in 2018 and guided the team to a title appearance last year but lost to Joe Burrow and the LSU Tigers. This year, Clemson is ranked No. 1 in the country, and Lawrence has thrown for 1,833 yards and 17 touchdowns while completing 70% of his passes through six games. On Thursday, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney talked about Lawrence’s future.
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“I mean, we’ll certainly let him stay if that’s what he wants to do,” Swinney said during an interview on SiriusXM Radio, per 247Sports. “But I’d be surprised if he’s back with the Tigers next year, but who knows? You never know. I didn’t think Christian Wilkins was coming back, but he did.”
On Tuesday, Lawrence talked to reporters and said he’s simply focused on the here and now. “My mindset has been that I’m gonna move on, but who knows? There’s a lot of things that could happen. So just really focused on this year and not trying to look ahead. Not trying to worry about that,” Lawrence said. “Obviously, I can’t control it and really just trusting that God has a plan for me, no matter where that is. No matter where I go, whether it’s across the country, whether it’s close to home, whether I stay another year. No matter what it is we’ll work it out. So I’m not sure, that’s a tough one. But we’ll see how it all unfolds.”
Lawrence’s COVID-19 diagnosis comes two months after Donald Trump claimed Lawrence reached out to him on the status of college football amid the pandemic. “I want to say that I want college football to come back. These are strong, healthy, incredible people,” Trump said during a speech in August. “These are people that want to play football very badly. A great, great talent and quarterback, Trevor Lawrence, called me two days ago and I spoke to him a couple of times. He said ‘Sir, I just want to tell you we want it back.’ He’s an incredible quarterback, as you know, from an incredible school.”
