Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman reveals injury updates on two key wide receivers
In his weekly Monday news conference, Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman provided two injury updates ahead of Saturday’s Louisville game. The most notable news was the No. 10 Fighting Irish (5-1) will get wide receivers Jayden Thomas and Jaden Greathouse back in Week 6. They each missed last week’s game with a hamstring injury.
“We expect both to be back,” Freeman told reporters Monday. “They’ll practice tomorrow. They ran around Sunday, and they’ll rehab and run around today.”
Freeman told reporters following last Saturday’s 21-14 win against Duke that Thomas ran during Notre Dame’s pregame practice but wasn’t ready to compete in a game yet.
Thomas, a junior, suffered his hamstring injury in the third quarter of Notre Dame’s 17-14 loss to No. 4 Ohio State on Sept. 23. The 6-1 ½, 221-pounder’s 30 snaps against the Buckeyes matched a season-low from Notre Dame’s 56-3 victory over Tennessee State on Sept. 2. Thomas leads Irish wide receivers with 13 receptions on the season. He has 195 yards and a touchdown on those catches.
Before Saturday’s Duke game, Blue & Gold confirmed a report that Greathouse was unlikely to play due to a hamstring injury. He sustained it in practice earlier in the week, which Freeman supposed in his news conference happened Thursday.
When commenting on Greathouse’s status postgame, Freeman said they considered using him in red zone packages. However, “there was no way he was able to do it with as hard as he plays,” Freeman said.
Through the first five games of his freshman season, the 6-1, 204-pound Greathouse had 12 catches for 166 yards and three touchdowns. He was fourth on the team in wide receiver snaps with 88 going into Week Five.
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Notre Dame’s Freeman updates the injury status of five other players
– Freeman told reporters the Irish will get sophomore tight end Eli Raridon back Saturday for the Louisville game. Raridon has been recovering from a torn ACL suffered during practice about a year ago.
– Sophomore linebacker Nolan Ziegler, who has been patient with his contributions because of a mental health matter, “will possibly be back this week,” Freeman said.
– Graduate student wide receiver Matt Salerno looks to be out for the remainder of the regular season with a leg injury. Salerno sustained the injury on Sept. 2 against Tennessee State. Freeman said Salerno could return for the postseason.
– Freshman wide receiver KK Smith is still in the “rehab phase” of his recovery, and “they do not expect him to be back,” according to Freeman. Smith had preseason shoulder surgery.
