Marcus Freeman reveals details regarding Avery Davis' ACL injury

On Saturday, Notre Dame announced Avery Davis suffered an ACL injury to his right knee in practice on Friday that will sideline him for the entire 2022 season. He previously tore his left ACL in November 2021, ending his year prematurely then as well.

Following Saturday’s practice, Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman discussed the details surrounding the injury, as well as his initial reaction.

“Gosh, heartbroken for the kid,” Freeman said. “[He] was running – coming back from from obviously an ACL injury on his other knee – was running a jet sweep yesterday and panted it and just, you know, he went down. We didn’t think initially that it was going to be as bad as it was and then after the MRI, I found out that it was an ACL and was just devastating for the kid.

“I spent some time with him yesterday in his apartment, just, you know, trying to, you know – what do you say to a kid at that moment? You’re just coming back from an ACL injury, now you tear the other one. But I wanted him know that he’s important to the program, and whatever we can do to support him, we will. It’s a huge blow for, not the [wide receivers] room, just the team. You’re talking about a captain and a guy that just is a great example of what you want our football players to be about, you’re just heartbroken for the kid.”

Davis posted 27 catches for 386 yards and four touchdowns in 2021 prior to the injury. His top Irish football moments came against Clemson in 2020 when Davis caught a 53-yard pass to set up a subsequent 4-yard score, tying the game at 33-33 and sending it to overtime. Notre Dame topped No. 1 Clemson 47-40 in double overtime that night.