Notre Dame football injury report: Three questionable players won't play against Navy

No. 10 Notre Dame will be without junior tight end Cooper Flanagan again Saturday. The Irish announced Flanagan as unavailable ahead of kickoff between Notre Dame (6-2) and Navy (7-1) in Notre Dame Stadium (7:30 p.m. EST on NBC).

Notre Dame declared four players questionable on Thursday: Flanagan, junior cornerback Christian Gray, junior wide receiver Jaden Greathouse and redshirt freshman wide receiver Micah Gilbert. Gray, Greathouse and Gilbert were still listed as questionable prior to kickoff, but Greathouse and Gilbert were not dressed to play.

UPDATE: Gray didn’t dress for the game after going through warmups.

Flanagan played against USC on Oct. 18 in his first action of the season after recovering from a torn Achilles in his left leg in January. He was held out of the Boston College game last weekend. The Irish have been relying on senior Eli Raridon as ND’s main pass catching threat at the tight end position. Raridon entered Saturday second on the team in receptions (24) and receiving yards (406) but had yet to score a touchdown.

Redshirt junior Ty Washington has been ND’s clear No. 2 tight end with Flanagan sidelined. The Irish have also used freshman tight end James Flanigan as a reserve option in two games.

Gray, who is dealing with a left hip injury, missed his first game of the season last weekend at Boston College. He totaled 16 tackles, two interceptions and a team-high eight pass breakups in the first seven games of the season. Freshman Mark Zackery IV started in Gray’s place against Boston College, but the Irish may not line up with its typical defense against Navy’s option attack. Zackery has three starts in seven game appearances this season with eight tackles and two pass breakups.

Greathouse will miss his fifth consecutive game with a right thigh injury after catching just four passes for 73 yards in the first four games of the season. Notre Dame has relied on graduate senior Will Pauling as the top slot receiver with Greathouse sidelined. Pauling entered Saturday with a team-high five touchdown catches on 19 receptions for 332 yards.

Gilbert played in the first six games of the season before being sidelined with a left hand injury. He caught four passes for 54 yards and one touchdown.

Graduate senior kicker Noah Burnette also isn’t dressed for Saturday’s game. On Thursday, head coach Marcus Freeman named freshman Erik Schmidt as Notre Dame’s top place-kicker for Saturday’s game. Schmidt is 0-of-2 on his two field goal attempts this season. Burnette is 5-of-6. Junior Marcello Diomede will be Schmidt’s primary backup.

Notre Dame previously declared redshirt junior defensive tackle Donovan Hinish would not play against Navy while he recovers from a concussion.