Donavon Greene out this week

Coach Dave Clawson said Greene won’t play this weekend against No. 10 Clemson, his second straight missed game — the lingering effects of a hamstring injury he has been dealing with for more than a month.

“It’s almost to the point where like, ‘Let’s bring him back when he’s completely, 100% healthy,’” Clawson said during his weekly news conference on Tuesday afternoon. “Because we brought him back in the beginning of the year and then he re-tweaked it. And then he played a little bit in the Ole Miss game and re-tweaked it.

“Just to bring him back 60%, 70%, 80% and lose him for three more weeks — we’re going to have some big games down the stretch.”

That was Clawson alluding to the obvious, which he talked about in the first couple of weeks; that for Wake’s offense to be at its best, it has to have the best version of Greene.

Greene missed most of fall camp. He had three catches for 72 yards and a touchdown against North Carolina A&T in the opener, and then a career-best 11 catches for 166 yards and a score against Virginia. He had one catch against each of Ole Miss and Louisiana.

That Greene is missing a home game against Clemson stings for a multitude of reasons — Wake Forest hasn’t beaten a top-10 team since 1946, and Greene had a two-touchdown game against the Tigers in a double overtime loss at then-Truist Field against the Tigers.

Redshirt freshman Micah Mays Jr. started in Greene's place at N.C. State and had the first four catches of his career, for 48 yards. His 17-yard catch on Wake's final drive set up Demond Claiborne's 3-yard touchdown run that wound up being the game-winning score.

The Deacons will also be without cornerback Travon West, who Clawson said suffered “a significant injury” in Saturday’s game.

Not all of Wake’s injury news on Tuesday was bad, though.

Cornerback Capone Blue, who started Wake’s first four games but missed the game at N.C. State, has practiced this week and is expected to play.