Notre Dame football injury update: Jayson Ademilola, Jaden Mickey and more
The injury bug has hit the Notre Dame defense. Four players on that side of the ball either did not play against Stanford or got knocked out of the game.
It was the latter for graduate student defensive tackle Jayson Ademilola. He left the game with a rib contusion. Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman said he did not practice Sunday.
“It’s going to take a day or two days to get it to where he’s breathing better,” Freeman said. “But no structural, no bone damage. Just a pretty good contusion that happened early in the game.”
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Junior safety Ramon Henderson left the game with a tweaked ankle. He practiced Sunday. Graduate student cornerback TaRiq Bracy did not play at Stanford. He strained his hamstring on Oct. 8 against BYU and was a game-time decision against the Cardinal. Bracy practiced Sunday.
Freshman cornerback Jaden Mickey has been a part of the regular rotation at corner all season. He suited up Saturday but did not enter the game. Freeman said Mickey has an abductor (hip) strain.
All of those injury obstacles are in addition to losing graduate student linebacker Bo Bauer for the rest of the season to a knee injury sustained in practice last week.
Without Ademilola, Notre Dame is reliant on graduate student Chris Smith, senior Howard Cross and sophomore Gabriel Rubio on the interior of the defensive line. Senior Jacob Lacey left the team with intent to transfer two weeks ago.
The absences of Mickey and Bracy put cornerbacks Cam Hart, a senior, and Ben Morrison, a freshman, in a tough spot against Stanford. Those two played all but one defensive snap. Junior Clarence Lewis was shuffled to the nickel corner position, which Bracy has had a stranglehold on all year.
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Henderson’s absence opened up an avenue for junior Xavier Watts to play a career-high 31 snaps against the Cardinal. Morrison also set a career-high with 82, and Rubio’s 44 was his personal best too.
The most positive thing going for Notre Dame on the injury front is that the bug has not infected the Irish offense. Health concerns have not forced Notre Dame to go to preseason third-string quarterback Steve Angeli, a true freshman, for instance. One of the biggest question marks slapped on backup-turned-starter Drew Pyne was his durability at 5-11 1/2, 198 pounds. He has held up.
A thin wide receiver room has stayed healthy. Injuries to sophomores Lorenzo Styles and Jayden Thomas or graduate student Braden Lenzy would further cripple an already impaired offensive operation.
The health of junior tight end Michael Mayer is paramount for obvious reasons. He ranks second in the FBS in both tight end receptions (38) and tight end receiving yards per game (68.5). Notre Dame cannot afford him to miss a game like he did in 2021 against Virginia Tech. So far, so good for the potential 2023 NFL Draft first round pick.
Notre Dame lost junior tight end Kevin Bauman to an ACL injury after three games, but the Irish got back sophomore Mitchell Evans from a fractured foot. He made his season debut with 19 snaps against Stanford.
“It’s good to add Mitchell Evans back,” Freeman said. “I think he brings something to our offense in the run and pass game. You add him in addition to our two freshman, Eli (Raridon) and Holden (Staes), our tight ends room is in really good hands with Michael Mayer, obviously, but without Michael Mayer in the future.”
