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Published Sep 30, 2023

Jayden Thomas out, Jaden Greathouse likely out for Notre Dame vs. Duke

Tyler James • InsideNDSports

Publisher

@TJamesND

DURHAM, N.C. — Notre Dame’s wide receiver depth chart is expected to be extremely thin Saturday night at Duke.

In addition to leading receiver Jayden Thomas being sidelined with a hamstring issue, the No. 11 Irish (4-1) will likely be without freshman wide receiver Jaden Greathouse.

Notre Dame formally announced Thomas' absence Saturday prior to the 7:30 p.m. EDT kickoff (ABC) against No. 17 Duke (4-0) at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, N.C.

A source confirmed with Inside ND Sports that Greathouse is dealing with a hamstring issue. He participated lightly in early pregame warmups but did so after the walk-on receivers on ND's roster. Irish Illustrated first reported Greathouse wouldn't play Saturday.

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Thomas, a junior, didn’t practice earlier in the week and was deemed “questionable/doubtful” by head coach Marcus Freeman on Thursday. Thomas tallied a team-high 13 receptions in the first five games. His catches netted 195 yards and one touchdown.

Greathouse made his impact felt in the season opener against Navy with a pair of touchdown catches in his college debut. His totals reached 12 catches for 166 yards and three touchdowns through five games.

Without Thomas and Greathouse, Notre Dame will be left with four scholarship wide receivers available on the roster: senior Chris Tyree (nine catches for 241 yards and two touchdowns), freshman Rico Flores Jr. (9-113-1) and sophomore Tobias Merriweather (7-147-1) and freshman Braylon James (no catches).

James only played 11 snaps combined late in blowout victories over Tennessee State and Central Michigan.

“Braylon’s been practicing with the offense,” Freeman said Thursday. “He’s continuously doing a really good job of getting better and better. We’ll see if his role increases, but we still have a plan to use those guys that we’ve been playing a lot. We’ll see if that determines if Braylon’s going to play at all or not.”

The Irish wide receiver group has been riddled with injuries this season. Freshman KK Smith, who joined the program in June, required shoulder surgery that’s kept him sidelined for months. Graduate senior Matt Salerno suffered a significant lower leg injury late in the Tennessee State game. Junior Deion Colzie underwent arthroscopic surgery Thursday and will miss the next few games.

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