Notre Dame OL Jarrett Patterson questionable for Ohio State game

The bad injury luck for Jarrett Patterson returned this week.

The fifth-year Notre Dame offensive lineman was sidelined by a right foot sprain suffered in Monday's practice, head coach Marcus Freeman shared Thursday. Freeman estimated Patterson would need to miss 7-10 days from practice and deemed him questionable for the season opener at No. Ohio State on Sept. 3.

Patterson, who made 34 starts at center the past three seasons, was in line to be No. 5 Notre Dame's starting left guard.

"Right now we’re being cautious on his return," Freeman said. "We have to rest it. Once we get probably through about a 10-day period of resting, he can go as he can tolerate the pain."

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The 6-foot-5, 310-pound Patterson was moved to guard after missing spring football due to a torn pectoral (chest) muscle that required surgery. That allowed senior Zeke Correll to establish himself as a worthy starting center in the eyes of offensive line coach Harry Hiestand.

Patterson had his junior season cut short by a Lisfranc fracture in his left foot that required surgery in November and a second surgery in March the following year.

In Patterson's absence, junior Andrew Kristofic (6-5, 300) slid into the No. 1 left guard spot, where he started the final seven games of last season. Sophomore Rocco Spindler (6-5, 315) has also received reps at left guard in a competition with Kristofic.

If Patterson is able to return to practice after 10 days, he should be able to practice in the week leading into the Ohio State game.

“It’s going to be his pain tolerance and how much he can perform at the level we expect him to with the pain," Freeman said of Patterson's eventual practice workload. "He might feel great. I talked to him today, he said he feels greats. We have to do what’s best for J-Patt. If he’s ready to go, he’s going to play. If he’s not ready to go, then we’ll get him ready for when he’s ready to go.”

Patterson and wide receiver Avery Davis are Notre Dame's two returning captains from last season. Davis was lost for the season Friday when he tore the ACL in his right knee.

Various foot injuries have been a recurring issue for the Irish in recent seasons. Fifth-year wide receiver Joe Wilkins Jr. is working his way back from a Lisfranc fracture in his right foot from the spring. Sophomore tight end Mitchell Evans required surgery to repair the fifth metatarsal in his left foot in July.

Former Irish wide receiver Kevin Austin Jr. suffered a fifth metatarsal fracture in July 2020 and reinjured the foot in October, which wiped out his junior season.

Freeman hasn't noticed or been informed that the injuries share a common thread of any kind.

"Those are injuries that happen across college football," Freeman said. "Every year you see a guy with a Lisfranc or a foot injury. It's a part of this game. It’s a tough, grueling game that the only way to prepare your team is to make it hard and to work at it.

"If we didn’t have to go out there and bang each other and work really hard and be ready to play on Sept. 3, we would do that. But we know as a coaching staff that this is what’s necessary to prepare your team to play a grueling 12-game season. Guaranteed 12 games. It’s what it takes.

"Until somebody tells me otherwise, you have to trust the preparation and your process to getting your team ready.”

• Sophomore wide receiver Jayden Thomas suffered a mild hamstring strain (grade 1) in Monday's practice. That kept Thomas sidelined from practice Wednesday and Thursday. Thomas started preseason camp with the No. 1 offense.

"We’re just being cautious," Freeman said. "We expect him to be back soon. Just not yet.”

• Sophomore running back Logan Diggs is expected to shed his red non-contact jersey next week, Freeman said. The Irish coaching staff expects him to be available for the season opener, but how he respond to contact will determine that.

Diggs tore the labrum in his left shoulder in the Blue-Gold Game on April 23 and had surgery on it six days later.

"At the end of the day, you need to see can he take a hit and get back up," running backs coach Deland McCullough said Wednesday.

• Patterson wasn't the only offensive lineman reporters spotted as absent from Notre Dame's practice Wednesday. Junior Michael Carmody, Freeman confirmed, remains in concussion protocol. Freeman wasn't as specific when asked about the four others missing from Wednesday's practice while reporters were present: junior Tosh Baker, sophomores Pat Coogan and Caleb Johnson and freshman Aamil Wagner.

Freeman said he expected them all back soon. Coogan, for instance, practiced Thursday, Freeman said.

"There’s a return to play progression that we have, that our doctors have. We have to trust our doctors in terms of making sure our players are safe," Freeman said. "A lot of those guys are just in that return-to-play protocol in terms of you have to get your baseline test where it needs to be. You have to be able to do physical activity without having any symptoms before you can really start the physical contact.

"All those guys are really working through that progression. We expect everybody to be there.”

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