SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The spring football outlook for Notre Dame wide receiver Micah Gilbert changed drastically in one of the first periods of Notre Dame's first spring practice on March 19. Gilbert broke a bone in his right hand while attempting to punch the football in a special teams drill. His participation has been limited since then.
"It was unfortunate," Gilbert said Wednesday after the team's seventh spring practice. "Broke it and had surgery. It’s getting better each day. Still out here with the team recovering. So keeping it going.”
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Gilbert, who will be a sophomore in the fall, qualified for a redshirt season as a freshman last year by playing in only three regular season games. His fourth appearance came in the 34-23 loss to Ohio State in CFP National Championship Game. Though Gilbert didn't record any receptions last season, this spring was expected to be important for him to make the leap toward more playing time in 2025.
Gilbert entered the spring as Notre Dame's top boundary receiver. The Irish recruited Virginia's Malachi Fields, who caught 55 passes for 808 yards and five touchdowns last season, out of the transfer portal as a graduate to take over the starting boundary receiver role, but Fields isn't expected to join the team until the summer. That left Gilbert with plenty of spring opportunities to fill the void left by former Clemson graduate transfer Beaux Collins, who totaled 41 receptions for 490 yards and three touchdowns in his one season with the Irish.
That all changed in the first spring practice when Gilbert suffered the injury. He said the expected recovery times is 6-8 weeks following the surgery he had in March. That means Gilbert won't play in the Blue-Gold Game on April 12. Last year, Gilbert caught five passes for 79 yards and two touchdowns in the annual spring scrimmage.
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As time has passed since Gilbert's surgery, he's been able to do more to stay active during practices. He's just not able to practice catching or take contact, which makes practicing as a wide receiver pretty limited.
"Still able to run routes, get the mental reps that I need, watch film, stay around the team," Gilbert said. "Just no ball. Nothing that could cause harm to my hand.”
Unfortunately for Gilbert, the most memorable moment of his freshman season was a drop on what should have been a 35-yard touchdown pass for backup Steve Angeli. The Irish were playing their backups in the fourth quarter of a 49-7 win over Stanford in October. But Gilbert should have plenty of opportunities to replace that memory with big plays in the future. He needs to get healthy, but he's been highly regarded by Notre Dame's coaching staff since arriving as a four-star recruit out of Charlotte (N.C.) Christian.
Gilbert didn't have the same kind of freshman season as high school teammate Bryce Young, an Irish defensive end. Yet Gilbert knows how much his game has improved since last spring even if he can't prove it in practice right now.
“Just having a lot of reps under my belt, being able to get adjusted to the speed when I first came in," Gilbert said. "Being around the guys, being in the Irish program, I’ve been able to adjust pretty well. I learned the playbook and learned stuff like that, so I can play fast.”
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