Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman reveals starter will return from injury against Ohio State

On Thursday, Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman provided an update on the injury status of Mitchell Evans ahead of Saturday’s game against Ohio State. Freeman said the Irish expect their starting junior tight end to return to the lineup.

“He practiced all week,” Freeman told reporters during Thursday’s news conference. “He’ll be ready to go.”

Evans is coming off a concussion suffered ahead of last Saturday’s Central Michigan game. He was not in uniform for that outing.

The 6-5 1/8, 251-pound Evans played all but four snaps (59 of 63) in Notre Dame’s win against NC State on Sept. 9. Evans had a 2-yard catch and a 2-yard rushing attempt. He has five catches for 63 yards on the year.

Evans did not play against the Buckeyes in last season’s contest as he recovered from offseason foot surgery. He ended up playing in six games in 2022. His sophomore season debut was on Oct. 22 against UNLV.

Freeman also told reporters that junior defensive tackle Gabriel Rubio should also be available Saturday. Rubio is coming off arthroscopic knee surgery following the Navy game on Aug. 26.

“He’ll be ready to roll too,” said Freeman, also stating that Rubio has practiced all week.

The 6-5 1/4, 306-pound Rubio, who played in his 12th game for the Irish in Week 0, had one tackle in the victory. He played 19 snaps and recorded two quarterback hurries, one leading to a sack for sophomore Vyper Joshua Burnham.

Rubio also did not play against the Buckeyes in 2022. He made his season debut the following week against Marshall. Rubio finished his sophomore season with 17 tackles, six of which were solo stops.

The only players expected to be unavailable on Saturday are freshman wide receiver Kaleb Smith who is recovering from shoulder surgery, and graduate student wide receiver Matt Salerno, who sustained an injury against Tennessee State in Week 1. While sophomore tight end Eli Raridon should be in uniform, Freeman said on Monday he does not expect him to make his 2023 season debut.

Freeman also announced on Monday that graduate student safety DJ Brown (hamstring) and linebacker JD Bertrand (concussion) would return Saturday. Both players did not play against Central Michigan.

Kickoff for Saturday’s game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on NBC. It will be the eighth all-time meeting between Notre Dame and Ohio State.