Notre Dame center Jarrett Patterson reportedly suffers injury, will miss spring practice
Notre Dame’s most experienced offensive lineman will be out of commission for spring practice and beyond.
Graduate student center Jarrett Patterson suffered a torn pectoral muscle while lifting weights during winter workouts and will require surgery, per multiple reports. The news was first reported by Irish Illustrated. He will miss the Irish’s 15 spring practices, but is expected to return for the season opener Sept. 3 against Ohio State.
Patterson put the NFL draft on hold to return for a fifth year and a fourth as Notre Dame’s starting center. He has started 34 games since taking over in 2019 and is the Irish’s most experienced returning offensive lineman. He started all 13 contests in 2021 and has not allowed a sack in more than 1,300 career pass-blocking snaps. Draft analyst pegged him as a possible Day 2 selection before he returned.
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“I want to be ready at the next level Day 1 to be a starter,” Patterson said. “I know there are some things in my game to work on to get there. Coming back will help me get to that goal next season. I wasn’t in a rush to go to the next level. I know I need to get better, and I’ll get better next season.”
That development is now on hold.
With Patterson out, Zeke Correll is the most logical candidate to replace him as the first-team center this spring. The senior-to-be started two games in place of him in 2020 after he suffered a season-ending foot injury. Correll began last season as the primary left guard, but was bumped from the starting lineup in October and finished the season as Patterson’s backup.
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Sixth-year senior Josh Lugg and rising senior Andrew Kristofic have also played center in prior years or offseaons. Lugg started there twice in place of Patterson in 2020. Kristofic saw time there last spring. Each ended 2021 as a starter, Lugg at right tackle and Kristofic at left guard. Lugg is expected to move back inside this season, with rising sophomores Blake Fisher and Joe Alt manning the tackle spots.
Notre Dame’s offensive line returned four primary starters and eight players who started at least once in 2021. The Irish brought back Harry Hiestand for his second stint as offensive line coach, a job he previously held from 2012-17.
Hiestand’s immediate job is to turn a line that was below average by program standards in 2021 but returns most of its production into a formidable unit in 2022. The on-field portion of that process will begin without the team’s most accomplished lineman.
Notre Dame begins spring practice March 17 and ends it with the Blue-Gold Game on April 23.
