Notre Dame spring practice injury report: Who’s back and who’s out
The most notable takeaway from scanning the corner of the Irish Athletic Center known as “the pit” Wednesday morning was the absence of two players. Neither cornerback Cam Hart nor safety Thomas Harper — both recipients of late-season shoulder surgery — were among the Notre Dame players pedaling away on stationary bikes or doing medicine ball twists while their teammates practiced nearby.
Hart and Harper, two fifth-year seniors expected to have prominent roles in the secondary this fall, were in helmets and shorts with the rest of the team Wednesday when Notre Dame began spring practice. That’s a sooner-than-expected return to the field for Hart, who previously said he expected to miss the spring after undergoing surgery around the end of the regular season. Harper had his procedure done in early November, making a return for spring more plausible.
They were back on the field and doing tackling drills Wednesday during the part of practice media could watch. When the shoulder pads go on and the hitting begins, though, they’ll sit out as a precaution.
“Right now, they’re non-contact,” Marcus Freeman said. “They can do some different things, but they’re not going to be allowed to do truly — when we put the shoulder pads on — any contact drills. I’d love to see them both go out there and have contact. We’re also going to be smart and understand they had shoulder surgery late last year. Our docs will let us know when they can go. The sooner, the better for us.”
Hart returned for a graduate season and was a starter each of the last two seasons. He played in 11 games last season before he was hurt, with 25 tackles (3 for loss) and 4 passes broken up. Harper transferred from Oklahoma State in January as a graduate student. He started all seven games he played last year, making 30 tackles (1.5 tackles for loss).
RELATED: More Notre Dame football:
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Five scholarship players inhabited the pit during the portion of Wednesday’s practice open to reporters: freshman defensive lineman Devan Houstan, freshman safety Adon Shuler, sophomore tight end Eli Raridon, sophomore running back Jadarian Price and senior tight end Kevin Bauman.
Houstan was spotted in a sling, which he was not wearing when he spoke to reporters Feb. 10. Freeman said he had shoulder surgery and will be out this spring. He was the lone early enrollee of Notre Dame’s four 2023 defensive line signees. Shuler, an early enrollee safety, had shoulder surgery in February and won’t participant in spring practice.
Bauman and Raridon suffered torn ACLs in September and October, respectively. Freeman doesn’t expect them to return to full practice before the April 22 Blue-Gold Game, if they practice at all.
“They won’t be full-go,” Freeman said.
That leaves Price, who tore his Achilles in June and missed last season. Of the five players out Wednesday, he’s the most likely to practice in a limited capacity before the spring game.
“He will progress to do more,” Freeman said. “I don’t know if he will be full-go. He has done a lot of running, and I see him progressing to more and more actual football practice.”
