Notre Dame football injury report: Irish rule out defensive starter for Game 6 vs. NC State

The Notre Dame football communications team has ruled out three players, including one defensive starter, and designated four more as questionable for Saturday’s game against NC State. 

The Fighting Irish (3-2) will be without starting nickel DeVonta Smith and offensive lineman Charles Jagusah and Peter Jones against the Wolfpack, they announced on Monday. Fifth-year kicker Noah Burnette, junior tight end Cooper Flanagan, junior wide receiver Jaden Greathouse and redshirt sophomore Preston Zinter are all listed as questionable with varying injuries.

Of other news: senior walk-on tight end Justin Fisher is no longer listed on the injury report with a right knee injury. He has yet to appear in a game this season.

Blue & Gold details this week’s full injury report here. 

Notre Dame football injury report vs. NC State (Game 6)

Here is a detailed look at this week’s Notre Dame football injury report vs. NC State.

— Fifth-year kicker Noah Burnette (right hip) is questionable for the game. Burnette initially missed the Sept. 20 Purdue game with the same injury designation. He then returned for the first half against Arkansas on Sept. 27 and kicked six extra-point attempts. The Irish held him out of the second half against the Razorbacks, but according to Notre Dame, his absence was not supposed to be due to an injury.

On Saturday, Freeman told reporters that Burnette was “really sore” after kicking in practice last Tuesday, which caused him to miss the Boise State game. On Monday, Freeman dove deeper into the program’s proccess to try to get Burnette back to full strength without suffering another setback.

“Yeah, it is a constant conversation on cause and effect, right?” Freeman told reporters. “Like what happened and how it happened? And the return to play, and ‘OK, he feels healthy, and then all of a sudden, we get a muscle strain. With Noah, it wasn’t the same injury. With DeVonta, it’s the same injury — calf strain, and he reaggravated his calf strain. With Noah, it was a different injury.

“So, we got to keep figuring this thing out, right? Nobody’s ever going to be OK with soft tissue issues saying, ‘We’re unlucky.’ That’s no way — it’s cause and effect. So it’s being able to communicate with Noah, and maybe it’s a kid saying, ‘I feel good.’ Okay, let’s go kick you. And all of a sudden, maybe you felt good, but it wasn’t good enough, right? That now he was sore or in too much pain to kick on Saturday.

“So we got to find the right formula. He’s in a really good spot right now, but he was in a really good spot a couple of weeks ago, and then he got injured again. So we got to kick him, we have to — you can’t go weeks without kicking and expect to make it in a game. Like anything, you got to practice.

“But is it practice? 
Is it treatment? Is it some type of fueling thing with his muscles? We have to get this thing figured out, and we are all — from the kid, to us, to sports medicine, to nutrition — we’re all trying to figure out, ‘Hey, what is the right formula to make sure he’s available for Saturday?’ But also, he’s prepared to do what he’s asked to do.”

— Junior tight end Cooper Flanagan is questionable for the game for the first time this season. On Jan. 2, Flanagan suffered an Achilles injury in his left foot in the Sugar Bowl against Georgia, which has kept him out for the first five games of the season. Blue & Gold spotted Flanagan in uniform on Sunday. And on Monday, Freeman said Flanagan started to get reps in practice last week and will plan to increase his workload in practice this week.

— Junior wide receiver Jaden Greathouse (right thigh) is questionable for the game. No details have been given on when the injury occurred. However, he missed the Boise State game after playing 24 snaps the previous week against Arkansas.

— Redshirt sophomore offensive lineman Charles Jagusah is out for the game. On July 5, Jagusah fractured his left humerus during a UTV accident in Wyoming. On July 31, Freeman told reporters that Jagusah will be back during the season, though the exact date is still to be determined. Last Tuesday, Blue & Gold senior writer Eric Hansen reported that Jagusah suffered a setback.

— Redshirt sophomore offensive lineman Peter Jones is out for the game. On Aug. 26, the Notre Dame football communications team announced he had a left ankle injury.

— Fifth-year defensive back DeVonta Smith (right ankle) is out for the game. Freeman said that Smith aggravated a calf strain. He previously told reporters that Smith rolled his ankle in pregame warmups against Texas A&M.

— Redshirt sophomore linebacker Preston Zinter (concussion) is questionable for the game. He has not played since the Purdue game on Sept. 27.

Notre Dame football players out for the season

— Sixth-year tight end Kevin Bauman is out for the season and has retired from football. On Aug. 9, the Notre Dame football communications team announced Bauman suffered an articular cartilage injury in his left knee. 

— Senior walk-on running back Dylan Devezin is out for the season. On Aug. 26, the Notre Dame football communications team announced he has a left shoulder injury.

— Freshman defensive back Brandon Logan is out for the season. On Aug. 26, the Notre Dame football communications team announced he has a left shoulder injury.

— Redshirt freshman running back Kedren Young is out for the season. On Aug. 9, the Notre Dame football communications team announced Young tore his ACL in his right knee in fall camp practice. It required surgery.