Notre Dame WR Jayden Thomas ruled OUT for Week 5 at Duke
Notre Dame junior wide receiver Jayden Thomas will miss Saturday’s game at Duke with a hamstring injury, the Irish announced 90 minutes before kickoff.
Thomas strained his hamstring during the fourth quarter against Ohio State this past Saturday while blocking for sophomore running back Jadarian Price. He left the game and did not return, finishing with 1 reception for 7 yards.
Thomas has 13 catches for 195 yards and 1 touchdown, scored in Week 0 vs. Navy in Dublin, Ireland, this season. He leads the Irish in receptions and is second in yards, one season after finishing second to tight end Michael Mayer in both categories. The Atlanta Pace Academy graduate caught 25 passes for 361 yards and 3 touchdowns as a sophomore in 2022.
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman said Thursday that Thomas would be questionable to doubtful for Saturday’s game. Freeman announced that the junior receiver was injured against Ohio State on Monday, calling him questionable for the Week 5 matchup at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, N.C., then.
Also missing Saturday’s game is junior wide receiver Deion Colzie, who underwent a knee scope to fix a lingering injury that had affected him throughout the season. Graduate wide receiver Matt Salerno also remains out, missing his fourth-straight game since suffering a lower-leg injury against Tennessee State.
Notre Dame suffered another absence at the wide receiver position, as freshman Jaden Greathouse is also expected to miss Saturday night’s game. A source told BlueandGold.com that Greathouse hurt his hamstring in practice this week. It is not expected to be a long-term injury.
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Greathouse will test his hamstring during warmups, but he is not expected to go.
The Irish only have four scholarship wide receivers available against Duke: sophomore Tobias Merriweather, freshman Rico Flores Jr., senior Chris Tyree and freshman Braylon James.
James has not played outside of garbage time this season, being the only scholarship wideout who is not on the depth chart.
“Braylon has been practicing with the offense and is continuously doing a really good job of getting better and better,” Freeman said, when asked if James might play with Colzie and likely Thomas missing the game. “We’ll see if his role increases, but I think we still have a plan to use those guys who have been playing a lot. We’ll see if that determines if Braylon is gonna play at all or not.”
Notre Dame (4-1) enters its Week 5 game as the No. 11 team in the country, according to the Associated Press Top 25. Duke (4-0) is No. 17 and has a win over Clemson under its belt.
The Irish and Blue Devils kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC.
