Notre Dame football Week 6 injury report: Will Leonard Moore make his return?

Another week, another questionable injury designation for Notre Dame sophomore cornerback Leonard Moore. The All-American standout has not played since Week 3 at Texas A&M, and he might not be back for the Fighting Irish’s Week 6 game at home against Boise State.

Joining Moore as questionable for the game against the Broncos are redshirt junior defensive tackle and team captain Donovan Hinish, who injured his left shoulder in warmups and was subsequently only able to give five defensive snaps against Arkansas, and valued redshirt junior special teamer Preston Zinter, who didn’t play against the Razorbacks because of a concussion.

True freshman Mark Zackery IV has started in place of Moore in back-to-back weeks for the Irish, and he has seen steady improvement since making that first career start against the Aggies. He played a prominent role in holding Arkansas to its most feeble offensive output of the season to date, by far. A Razorbacks offense that had scored at least 28 points in each of its first four first halves of the season scored 13 points in the entire game vs. Notre Dame.

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman is confident in Zackery’s role on the team moving forward, which will be the Irish’s definitive No. 3 corner behind Moore and Christian Gray once Moore returns to the starting lineup.

“He wants to be coaches, he wants to improve,” Freeman said. “We knew he had talent. But sometimes, in failure, you learn about a guy. Is he a competitive individual who wants to take ownership and get better? Or he is an ‘ain’t my fault’ type of guy?”

Zackery is the former. Notre Dame has solid next-man-up options to spell Hinish, too, if he isn’t able to play vs. Boise State. Defensive tackles Elijah Hughes and Cole Mullins have come on strong in recent weeks, bolstering Notre Dame’s depth along the interior of the defensive line.

Hughes played 26 snaps at Arkansas. Mullins played 18. Louisville transfer Jared Dawson made a return from a minor injury that kept him out vs. Purdue and played 20. That’s all in addition to graduate senior Gabriel Rubio leading the entire Notre Dame defense with his Pro Football Focus game grade of 81.4. Graduate senior Jason Onye also turned in a more than respectable PFF game grade of 71.7.

There is no doubt about it; the Notre Dame defense is better with Moore and Hinish in the lineup. But rapidly, the Irish have become a team that feels comfortable relying on depth pieces to do enough to win football games.

As for playing without Zinter, who went into the Arkansas game as Notre Dame’s leader in special teams appearances by a large margin, the Irish have the DNA of a team that praises players’ willingness to contribute in that area even if they’re big pieces of what the Irish are doing on offense or defense. Zinter is missed, for sure, but Notre Dame can figure things out without him as well.