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Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman updates injury status of WRs Jayden Thomas, Jaden Greathouse

Kyle Kellyby:Kyle Kelly•09/30/23•

ByKyleKelly

Jaden Greathouse and Jayden Thomas
Notre Dame wide receivers Jaden Greathouse (19) and Jayden Thomas (83). (Chad Weaver/Blue & Gold)

No. 11 Notre Dame (5-1) took down No. 17 Duke (4-1), 21-14, in Durham, North Carolina, without two of its top pass-catching options. Wide receivers Jayden Thomas and Jaden Greathouse each missed Saturday night’s game with a hamstring injury.

Afterward, Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman told reporters that he expects Thomas and Greathouse to return to the lineup next week against Louisville.

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. Notre Dame football’s communications team officially ruled him out pregame.

The  6-1 ½, 221-pound Thomas’ 30 snaps against the Buckeyes matched a season-low from Notre Dame’s 56-3 victory over Tennessee State on Sept. 2. Thomas led the team with 13 receptions on the season entering Saturday. He’s added 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. Freeman said in his news conference that Greathouse pulled his hamstring Thursday.

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.

Thomas and Greathouse’s absences left the Irish with just four scholarship wide receivers against Duke: Chris Tyree, Tobias Merriweather, Rico Flores Jr. and Braylon James. They combined for four catches for 56 yards on 14 targets against the Blue Devils. Merriweather had four of those targets but did not catch a pass.

Irish graduate student quarterback Sam Hartman completed 15-30 passes for 222 yards. He tossed zero touchdowns and zero interceptions. Junior tight end Mitchell Evans accounted for over half of those yards (134) on six catches.

Notre Dame wide receivers room already thin

Before Thomas and Greathouse’s injuries, the Irish were already without junior pass catcher Deion Colzie and graduate student receiver Matt Salerno.

Colzie did not play against Ohio State. He then had his knee scoped on Thursday, which knocked him out for a few weeks. Salerno injured his leg in Week 1 against Tennessee State. His absence is expected to be more extensive.

Notre Dame’s game against the Louisville Cardinals kicks off at 7:30 p.m. EDT next Saturday. The Irish have won 30 consecutive ACC regular season games.

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