Marcus Freeman confirms Eli Raridon will not be ready to play against Navy

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman was hopeful that sophomore tight end Eli Raridon would be healthy and ready to play by the season opener against Navy on Saturday. But that will not be the case.

Raridon, who tore his ACL in October of 2022 — his second time in less than a year — is close but not quite ready. And though Freeman would’ve been excited to have the tight end back, he’ll trust the doctors and Raridon to know when he’s good to play.

“He won’t be ready. He’s not ready yet,” Freeman said. “He’s working his way back, it’s just — it’s a process. And I think his strength is getting close to where it needs to be.”

He added that for Raridon, coming back from a second ACL tear will be as much of a mental challenge as it will be physical. Just months after wrapping up rehab for his first surgery, he was back under the knife and at what must’ve felt like square one.

With that in mind, Freeman has seen how Raridon has pushed to get back, enduring both the physical and mental gruel of rehab yet again — it just wasn’t quite done in time for the season opener.

“But this is a mental and physical thing, to come back from your second ACL. And so I’m trusting our doctors and I trust in him to know when his body’s ready to go,” Freeman said.

Freeman had a positive update on a key Notre Dame lineman

The Irish are adding yet another piece to their puzzle with graduate senior Zeke Correll cleared to play in Dublin.

Marcus Freeman opened his press conference at Aviva Stadium earlier today with the news on Correll. He said that their center has been practicing all week and has progressed in such a way that they anticipate that he’ll be a go for them against the Midshipmen tomorrow in Ireland.

“Zeke’s playing,” Freeman said. “He’s been practicing all week. I think, when we met on Monday, I told you we expected him to practice. He practiced and he has gotten better all week. We fully expect Zeke to play and be ready to roll.”

Correll has appeared in 30 career games with the Irish. That includes his senior season last fall where he started and played in all 13 of Notre Dame’s games. He is now back for his fifth season as one of three veterans on this team’s offensive line.