Notre Dame football will need all the help it can get Saturday in Notre Dame Stadium. When the No. 16 Irish (3-1) host No. 15 Louisville (3-0), the Irish will take the field without sophomore tight end Cooper Flanagan.
Flanagan, who started on Saturday against Miami (Ohio), suffered a left ankle injury in the game and was declared out by head coach Marcus Freeman and the team's availability report for Saturday's game against Louisville (3:30 p.m. EDT on Peacock).
Flanagan played just four offensive snaps in the Miami game after playing at least 26 in the first three games of the season. He didn't return to the game after quarterback Riley Leonard overthrew him in the first quarter. Flanagan slammed his helmet while sitting on the bench following the play. Flanagan caught three passes for 53 yards and one touchdown in the first three games of the season.
The Irish will rely on senior Mitchell Evans (seven catches for 68 yards) and junior Eli Raridon (four catches for 36 yards) even more in Flanagan's absence.
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The return of junior defensive end Joshua Burnham remains pending. The 6-foot-4, 251-pound Burnham continued to be listed as questionable in the team's availability report. He missed the last two games with a left ankle injury suffered near the end of Notre Dame's 16-14 loss to Northern Illinois on Sept. 7. Burnham was listed as questionable on the Mondays before both games he missed.
Burnham, who rotated in behind starter RJ Oben, recorded four tackles, one tackle for loss and one quarterback hurry in the first two games of the season. Oben, a graduate transfer from Duke, has five tackles in four games.
Three players expected to return this season remain sidelined again this week: junior right guard Billy Schrauth (right ankle), senior defensive tackle Gabriel Rubio (left foot) and freshman safety Tae Johnson (left foot).
Notre Dame has several players listed out for the season: walk-on CB Marty Auer (knee), walk-on DL Quentin Autry (shoulder), S Taebron Bennie-Powell (shoulder), VYP Jordan Botelho (knee), C Ashton Craig (knee), walk-on CB Charles Du (shoulder), OL Charles Jagusah, LB Kahanu Kia (knee), RB Gi'Bran Payne (knee), OL Styles Prescod (shoulder) and CB Chance Tucker (knee).
The Irish will also be without cornerback Jaden Mickey for the rest of the season after he decided to redshirt and eventually transfer out of the program. Mickey has been Notre Dame's third outside cornerback who rotates in the game after starters Benjamin Morrison and Christian Gray. Mickey made three tackles and broke up one pass in four games this season.
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