SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Getting in some extra work after a player’s only practice last June, Jadarian Price produced a sound so loud that Notre Dame’s defensive linemen heard it from one of the other practice fields at the Irish Athletics Center.
The sound of his left Achilles tendon rupturing.
Nine and a half months later, the Notre Dame running back’s comeback has been even more resounding, even if it’s only figuratively so at this point.
"Right now, I'm just focused on the present,” the chiseled 5-foot-10, 204-pound sophomore said Thursday after his Irish teammates had logged practice No. 8 of 15 this spring. “I think as long as I take care of now, the future will handle itself.”
June is the target timeline for Price to be declared 100 percent and ready to step back into one of the deepest running back talent pools in the nation, even with senior Chris Tyree extracted from it to play slot receiver.
For now, the Denison, Texas, product goes through stretching, skipping and jogging with his teammates at the start of each spring workout, then watches 2022’s leading rusher, junior Audric Estimé (920 yards, 11 TDs, 5.9 ypc), and 2022 redshirt Gi’Bran Payne take the practice reps that will eventually be split five ways come June.
Junior Logan Diggs (821 yards, 4 TDs, 5.0 ypc) said Thursday he’s expected to resume practicing sometime next week after suffering a lower-leg injury the first week of spring practice. Incoming four-star prospect Jeremiyah Love enrolls as a freshman in June just about the time Price will be cleared for all football activity.
“I'm just excited about it,” running backs coach Deland McCullough said of the challenge of figuring out how to divvy up the playing time five ways. “We have good issues. Really good issues.”
Price, at worst, figures to be option 3 behind the two juniors after what he showed last spring as an early enrollee. His 116 yards on 17 touches in last year’s Blue-Gold Game, mostly turning short passes into long gains, reinforced both what he had shown throughout spring as well as the decision by McCullough, drafting for the Gold team, to select Price ahead of notably Estimé and Tyree.
“He’s been kind of slept on,” cornerback Cam Hart offered after the player draft and before the Blue-Gold Game. “But just watching practice — and you guys will see on Saturday — this dude’s elusive. He has some traits that I haven’t seen here at Notre Dame.”
Price has been running every other day for the past two weeks as part of his rehab.
"Anybody coming off an injury like I did and being nine months out, your first time running is a little awkward and it does feel a little weird,” he said. “It's almost like as soon as you get that first rep done, it's like second nature the second time. It's like riding a bike. You don't forget how to run.
"I haven't really been able to test (his top-end speed) that out, but I don't feel like I've lost a step."
He also appears not to have lost the maturity, the humility and the perspective that helps heighten his physical gifts. Price is so poised and so well-spoken, he could play himself in a movie.
“He has all of the competencies you want at that position,” McCullough seconded. “And the thing is if you go off one year ago, he showed it on a really high level. So yes, he hasn't been physically doing things, but he's continuing to be locked into what we're doing mentally. I'm excited to get him back out on the physical part.”
When Price does make his deferred collegiate debut — presumably Aug. 26 against Navy in Dublin, Ireland — he’ll do so with a new uniform number (24 and swapping out 20), a number he wanted last year, but it was taken by Estimé. The 227-pound junior has since migrated to No. 7.
His confidence hasn’t changed, though it’s been challenged. He doesn’t believe he’ll be the same player he was before the injury once he puts pads on in August for the first time in 16 months. He believes he’ll be better.
“The toughest part is knowing it's a long journey,” Price said. “Just knowing it's over half a year for me to be able to get back on the field, it wasn't a good thing. Knowing I had people around me to support me and things like that — this is a great team and it's a brotherhood and we all support each other. I'm really grateful for that.
“When fall camp comes around, everyone will be in the same boat. They haven't put on pads in a couple months, so that will be good for me being around people who haven't been hit in a while. I think it'll make me feel more comfortable. That first play, I'll for sure be ready."
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