What Clemson football's Phil Mafah said about preseason backup running back battle

CLEMSON — Clemson football running back Phil Mafah said the battle for the No. 2 duties behind him has been progressing on Monday, but no clear leader has emerged.

The Tigers practiced with pads on for their fourth session this preseason as they prepare for their first scrimmage on Aug. 10 at Memorial Stadium.

Keith Adams Jr., Jarvis Green, David Eziomume and Jay Haynes have continued their pursuit for the backup position behind Mafah, and the "close competition," as running backs coach C.J. Spiller called it, is leading to improvement.

"They haven't had much game experience up to his point, but practice going against the defense like we go against, it's gotten all of us better," Mafah said.

Adams, who was limited in the first two practices, is the only running back to receive double-digits carries in college, and the others either have received none or less than seven. Mafah says for them to nab key playing time, they need to have a "foundation," which includes effort, intensity and aggressiveness.

Haynes, who is participating this preseason after missing the spring with a hamstring injury, and the rest of the running backs have tried to emulate and learn from Mafah during practice.

"Phil is another great, one of the best running backs," Haynes said. (I'm) taking my talents, stacking it with Phil's talent and getting under his wing to learn extra plays and things to tag into the game, speed up the process and learn the game."

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This position battle will be critical for the Tigers' offense as the season could reach as many as 17 games. Mafah, who is expected to be the team's workhorse, will need to monitor his wear and tear and take plays off occasionally. Clemson coach Dabo Swinney is hoping one of these inexperienced players step up to play critical downs in the regular season.

"Me, Jarvis, Jay — all three of us are working together," Adams said. "We also get closer with more competition. I feel like that's how Phil and (Will) Shipley were when they first got here."

Derrian Carter covers Clemson athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at dcarter@gannett.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DerrianCarter00

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Clemson football: Phil Mafah on Tigers' backup running back battle