Notre Dame football injury updates: Marcus Freeman addresses multiple players' return timeline

Coming off a season where Notre Dame played for a national championship despite extensive injuries, the Irish are hoping to avoid those same issues. Still, with Fall Camp underway, the Irish are already dealing with several injuries.

Head coach Marcus Freemen recently shared an injury update on several players. With the regular season just a few weeks away, he also made it clear where those players are in their rehab timelines.

“Yeah, Boubacar [Traore] is more of a progression,” Marcus Freeman said. “He’ll be ready to go. We just want to slowly increase the load we ask him to perform in practice.”

Boubacar Traore is a redshirt sophomore defensive lineman who came to Notre Dame as a four-star recruit in the Class of 2023. Over his first two seasons in South Bend, he’s appeared in 10 games with 12 tackles, six tackles for a loss, and four sacks. With turnover along that defensive line, the hope is he can step into a larger role next season. He had suffered a knee injury that ended his 2024 season early.

From there, Marcus Freeman addressed injuries suffered by tight end Cooper Flanagan and offensive lineman Charles Jagusah. The hope is that they’re going to become key contributors next season. However, Flanagan is coming off a torn Achilles in last season’s Sugar Bowl. Jagusah, meanwhile, missed most of last season with an injury and is now dealing with a broken humerus in his left arm from a UTV accident.

“With Coop and Charles, they’ll be back during the season. I don’t know — there’s not a hard date that we’re going to say, ‘This is the game they’ll be back.’ But they’ll be back this year. Charles just had a procedure to clean up to sew back his wound. We had to close up his wound. But that’s not going to delay his return more than a couple of days. So, it’s a progression. But we don’t want to put a timeline on it. We don’t want to say this is the exact game they’ll be back,” Freeman said. “Because with rehabilitation, it can all change based on how they’re progressing.”

Cooper Flanagan came to Notre Dame as a four-star recruit in the Class of 2023. He’s quickly become a key player on the Irish offense, playing in 26 games through two seasons. The hope is that he’ll break out as a pass catcher next season. Charles Jagusah, meanwhile, was also a four-star recruit in the Class of 2023. He’d played in every College Football Playoff game last season after returning from injury.

Notre Dame is set to get tested right out of the gate. The Irish open on the road against the Miami Hurricanes on August 31st.