Marcus Freeman offers injury update on Cam Williams, Styles Prescod

Matt Connollyby:Matt Connolly04/22/24

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National CFB analyst JD PicKell breaks down Notre Dame's spring game | Kenny Minchey, CJ Carr, Steve Angeli

Notre Dame was without several players during Saturday’s spring game, including freshman receiver Cam Williams and freshman offensive lineman Styles Prescod.

Irish head coach Marcus Freeman provided an update on the two after the scrimmage, starting with Cam Williams.

“Cam is a hamstring. You know, listen, this is one of the healthiest springs we’ve had. I’ll tell you that. But we did have two hamstrings this week that just came at the wrong time. And it’s things you learn as a head coach, right?” Marcus Freeman explained “It’s a reflection of, somebody goes down, we have a thin wide receiver room… and so when you start adding those reps to Cam Williams, then all of a sudden he pulled his hamstring in one of the practices.”

Williams was rated as a four-star recruit and the No. 11 receiver in the country in the class of 2024, according to the On3 Industry rankings.

The good news is that the injury doesn’t appear to be too serious, even though he did miss Saturday’s spring game.

“It was a very mild tear, but he wouldn’t have been able to go full go today. So that’s why he wasn’t out there,” Freeman said.

As for Styles Prescod, he wasn’t necessarily injured, but he is still continuing to work his way back to full strength.

Prescod was ranked as a four-star recruit and the No. 29 interior offensive lineman in the country in the class of 2024, according to the On3 Industry rankings.

“Styles Prescod, he’s just a guy that we’re really working on muscle deficiency in one of his legs that was previously worked on in high school,” Freeman said. “He hasn’t been totally full-go all spring. So it’s just something where we’re trying to make sure we build his leg up to make sure it’s equal with the other so we can truly be safe.”

Marcus Freeman ‘really pleased’ with Notre Dame quarterbacks

Spring practice has come and gone at Notre Dame in a year where the team is going to be adjusting to a new quarterback. That group, in particular, is one that head coach Marcus Freeman says he’s been pleased with.

Following the Blue-Gold Game, Freeman explained that he was happy with how all the quarterbacks performed, especially with their growth and decision-making.

“I was really pleased with what I saw,” Marcus Freeman said. “A lot of good, but you never want to turn the ball over, which we did. But I love the decision-making, just from being back there and watching them. Again, they’ve been progressing all spring.”

Notre Dame has four quarterbacks listed on its roster, with three being healthy enough to play in the Blue-Gold Game. CJ CarrKenny Minchey, and Steve Angeli were available for the game, with Minchey and Carr being live and full contact.

Having those players at full contact is something that Marcus Freeman feels is good for them, as well as for the defense itself.

“It’s good to have Kenny and CJ be live today. And I think it’s good for the defensive guys to realize that just because you get close to the quarterback, you realize it’s a lot harder to actually get a sack. Those guys love to yell ‘sack’ when they get close to the quarterback, but today it shows that you’ve actually got to bring the quarterback down and it’s not as easy as sometimes it may seem.”