Notre Dame football injury report: CB Christian Gray questionable for Boston College game

Notre Dame football might play Saturday’s game against Boston College (1-7) without one of its starting cornerbacks. The Irish declared junior Christian Gray as questionable with a hip injury one hour prior to the 3:30 p.m. EDT kickoff at Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill, Mass.

If Gray, who has started the last 18 games for Notre Dame, can’t play, the No. 12 Irish (5-2) may turn to freshman cornerback Mark Zackery IV to play in his place. Zackery started against Purdue and Arkansas when the Irish were missing starting cornerback Leonard Moore. Zackery has totaled seven tackles and two pass breakups in six game appearances this season.

UPDATE: Gray went through warmups and is dressed for play, but Zackery started in his place.

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman acknowledged earlier this week that Gray has been playing through pain this season.

“It starts with health for him,” Freeman said. “He’s a guy that’s pretty injured and banged up, but the thing about Christian is he’s such a tough, tough individual that he never wants to come out of the game, never wants to tell somebody how he’s truly feeling. We know he’s banged up without him even saying it.

“We were proactive of evaluating him and his body and what areas need to recover. That’s where a lot of his issues came from. Injuries caused him to play with poor technique in certain situations. 

“The second thing is continue to trust the technique, continue to do it consistently. He’ll never be a guy to make an excuse, but we have to make sure to keep getting him healthy so he can play at a high level.” 

Notre Dame will have graduate senior nickel back DeVonta Smith available to play against Boston College. The graduate transfer from Alabama has missed five full games this season, but he was declared available after being listed as questionable with a right calf injury entering Saturday.

The 5-11, 195-pound Smith recorded two tackles and one fumble recovery in the three games he previously played this season. He started the season opener at Miami and ND’s next road trip to Arkansas. He played limited snaps against Boise State before suffering a setback with his injury.

The Irish have leaned on freshman Dallas Golden as the top nickel back while Smith has been sidelined. Golden, a started in three of the five games he’s played, has tallied 19 tackles, one interception, two pass breakup and shared a tackle for loss. Golden could also play outside cornerback if Gray is sidelined.

Notre Dame declared junior tight end Cooper Flanagan, who is being eased back into play following a torn left Achilles in January, as out for Saturday’s game. The 6-foot-6, 255-pound Flanagan missed the first six games of the season before playing six snaps — four on offense and two on special teams — in the Oct. 18 victory over USC. The Irish can preserve a redshirt season for Flanagan if he only plays in four games during the regular season, so they may not want to push him too hard to play in every game.

Notre Dame has relied on senior tight end Eli Raridon to take the vast majority of snaps at the position this season. He’s accounted for most of the passing game production at the position as well with 21 catches for 347 yards. Raridon is second on the team in receptions and third in receiving yards.

Redshirt junior tight end Ty Washington has played in all seven games and started twice as ND’s No. 2 option. He caught three passes for 19 yards against Purdue and hasn’t recorded a reception since then.

Notre Dame added backup offensive tackle Styles Prescod to the list of unavailable players against Boston College. The 6-6, 292-pound redshirt freshman is dealing with a left shoulder injury.

Notre Dame previously declared six players out for Saturday’s game: wide receivers Jaden Greathouse (right thigh) and Micah Gilbert (left hand); offensive linemen Billy Schrauth (left knee), Charles Jagusah (left arm) and Peter Jones (left ankle); and defensive tackle Gabriel Rubio (left elbow). None of them have been ruled out for the remainder of the season.