Notre Dame football didn't make it out of Saturday's season opener against Navy unscathed.
Junior defensive tackle Gabriel Rubio suffered a knee injury in the 42-3 victory for the Irish in Dublin, Ireland.
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman said Rubio is expected to be out to be out multiple weeks.
"He has to get a couple things fixed in his knee, but he will be out for a couple weeks," Freeman said. "That was really the only injury we had from the game. That’s just going to give somebody else another opportunity to step up."
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Rubio played 19 defensive snaps against the Midshipmen as a rotational interior defensive lineman behind starting defensive tackle Rylie Mills and nose tackle Howard Cross III. He and fellow junior Jason Onye served as their primary backups with Onye totaling 24 snaps.
Onye was credited with two tackles against Navy. Rubio was credited with one tackle and helped force a sack by Joshua Burnham. Last season, Rubio totaled 17 tackles, four tackles for loss and two quarterbacks hurries in 12 games.
Sophomore Donovan Hinish was the only other interior defensive lineman to play against Navy and he did so for five snaps. Hinish will likely be asked to play a larger role in the coming weeks. Notre Dame may also turn senior Aidan Keanaaina for some depth at nose tackle.
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