Hello all, this is my first time posting here. I am a subscriber of Les' site and a big time deacon fan with quite a few connections in and around the program. I am not going to share any information I have or have not learned from Les and I am not going to share any specifics about what Sam is dealing with medically. However, much of my information on this situation does not come from Les and I am willing to share that.
So... the day after Sam's indefinite absence from football was announced I learned what his surgery was, and, after doing my own research, I could understand how he had an indefinite timeline, but leaned toward his most likely return being in the first half of the season.
The next day, I was told that Sam had (supposedly) texted his teammates that he thought he could be back by the Liberty game. As a result, I immediately took this as the best case scenario for his return and thought if everything went well in his recovery then he would be back for the Liberty game.
This past Sunday was when I learned what the whole scale of the issue he was dealing with that resulted in his surgery was. (Again, I will not share what the issue is/was and I will not share his specific surgery) As part of his recovery he cannot play tackle football for a minimum of 6 weeks. Doing my own research, I see no reason why he cannot be throwing between now and when he returns to playing.
If his recovery was just that 6 weeks then he would return midweek of the Clemson game. Based on Coach Clawson (yesterday on ACC PM) saying that they will know more in about 2 weeks, my speculation is that if things look good in 2 weeks then he would begin non contact practicing with the team soon after. So, If he does return in the minimum 6 weeks to contact practicing, and he has been non contact practicing/throwing between now and then (plus given his extensive P5 experience), I think he would be able to play for that Clemson game. I do understand that the text he supposedly sent to the team and that minimum 6 weeks timeline don't exactly matchup, so I'm not sure if he maybe could end up play for that Liberty game, and my info about his recovery timeline is slightly off, or the opposite...
TLDR: Based on all my info (and what others have said) it's probably about a 50/50 chance that Sam plays against Clemson.