Syracuse, N.Y. -- Syracuse football defensive back Tyrone Perkins received an interesting visitor at a North Carolina hospital this week.

Wake Forest head coach Dave Clawson stopped by to speak with the senior and Perkins sent SU head coach Dino Babers a photo of the two together.

"I just want to say publicly that I really do appreciate Dave doing that," Babers said on the Atlantic Coast Conference coaches' teleconference on Wednesday. "That was something that was very gracious on his end.



"All of us know how important our time is as a head coach, especially to our own programs. For him to go out and visit one of my guys in the local hospital is something I'll never forget, something that I'll always appreciate."

Perkins suffered a severe left leg injury during the first quarter of SU's 41-24 win at Wake Forest this weekend and had to be carted off. He was in a local hospital's intensive care unit until Tuesday, according to SU Athletics, and is now resting comfortably.

Perkins is still waiting to be cleared to travel. SU Athletics is hopeful that he will be able to return to Central New York this week.

Clawson, who preceded Babers at Bowling Green, becomes the second ACC coach to make a personal gesture to the Orange over the last two years. Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney came into the SU locker room after being upset in the Carrier Dome last fall and congratulated the players, addressing many individually by name.

Babers also expressed his gratitude toward Clawson on an interview with ESPN Radio Syracuse.

"Hopefully, I won't have an opportunity to reciprocate, but if I do, I definitely will because I thought that was very gracious on his part," Babers told ESPN Radio Syracuse.

The 13th-ranked Orange (7-2, 4-2 ACC) returns to action when Louisville (2-7, 0-6) comes to the Carrier Dome for senior night on Friday at 7 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN2.

Babers said it's possible that injured SU running back Moe Neal (undisclosed) and cornerback Ifeatu Melifonwu (hamstring) are available to play against the Cardinals, but did not provide details.

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Stephen Bailey covers Syracuse football for The Post-Standard/Syracuse.com. You can follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can also be reached anytime via email.