Notre Dame QB Riley Leonard on the mend, upbeat and eyeing a pivotal summer
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The TayCo brace Riley Leonard sported on his right ankle at Tuesday morning’s Notre Dame football practice was more for show than anything else, he insisted.
Or, “in case I were to step into like a hole or something,” the recovering, rehabbing, yet renewed Notre Dame quarterback qualified after practice No. 9 of 15 this spring.
And one in which Leonard — 2 ½ weeks removed from his second surgery since arriving from Duke via the transfer portal in mid-January — was performing in most of the team’s drills except for those that required him to make sharp lateral movements, like rolling out.
“Nothing’s bothered it,’ the 6-foot-4, 217-pound senior said. “I just want to instill confidence in the medical people here, like confidence in me that I'm going to take care of myself when they tell me not to do [something].
“So, I don't know if I'm allowed to do that rollout stuff or not. [They] told me not to jog, and the rollout is a jog. So, I took that on by myself. I was like, ‘I'm not going to do this.’ So, nothing's hurt it so far. But I just don't know if I'm at the stage to, like, really test it.”
And so Notre Dame’s quarterback competition between Leonard and junior Steve Angeli is more or less suspended until summer and fall training camp, in the run-up to the Aug. 31 opener at Texas A&M.
The good news — Leonard has been cleared to start jogging next week. But beyond that …
“I wish I knew the answer to that question,” Leonard responded when asked what the timeline was for feeling 100 percent. “Injuries are kind of ambiguous, and they're very subjective on like, ‘How are you feeling? You feel good?. You want to do this? Is it hurting today?’
“I don't know. I think a couple weeks is my timeframe, because I’m about tired of it, but I don't know. It's not really my decision.”
What he does know is that he’s not in pain. Zero. He also knows why a second surgery was required after TightRope surgery was performed in late January on the ankle he suffered a high sprain to way back on Sept. 30 while playing for Duke against Notre Dame.
Howard Cross III sacked Leonard late in a 21-14 Irish road victory, and Leonard never fully recovered from the injury during the season, which led to the decision to have the TightRope surgery in January to repair the damaged ligament.
“I kind of was just going through my whole routine,” Leonard said of the circumstances that led to surgery No. 2. “We took a conservative approach on the rehab, so we didn't really push anything at all. It just kind of built up to where the top of that plate kind of had too much pressure on it, and it caused stress fracture, which is super rare.
“Like it really never happens. So yeah, it caught me by surprise. And then I kind of was on it for a couple of weeks. I was like, holy cow. I mean your fibula — the fracture is just a broken fibula, so it didn't feel too hot. So, we got an X-ray, and it was unanimous. ‘You need to get a bigger plate in there and relieve that stress.’
“The original injury I hurt versus Notre Dame — the high ankle sprain that I got surgery on in January — that ligament, that's like the really concerning thing, it’s 100% stable. Really, really good.
“Whenever they went into this past surgery for the stress fracture, they could see that TightRope surgery and how it did with the ligament in between my tibia and fibula, and that is great. So the risk now is maybe overdoing it.”
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Which Leonard admits is something that will challenge him,
Meanwhile, Angeli takes reps with the 1s in practice, sophomore Kenny Minchey with the 2s and early enrolled freshman CJ Carr with the 3s. And Leonard watches as much film, studies as much of the playbook and takes mental reps when he can’t do something physically.
Knowing that the summer is catch-up time to forge timing and chemistry with Notre Dame’s receivers.
“I think we have a good summer plan,” he said. “Coaches aren't allowed to be out there. So, I'm going to have to utilize the time in the film room and coming out here and getting guys to come in here and get some routes on air and maybe get the defense out here and get some live reps.
“That schedule, that we're kind of building right now, is going to be huge for my progression coming into fall camp.”
What’s he’s experienced of new offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock, so far, he loves. Denbrock, in his third tour of duty at ND, presided over an LSU offense last season that led the nation in scoring offense and total offense and produced a Heisman Trophy winner in quarterback Jayden Daniels.
“I mean, obviously Jayden Daniels excelled in it last year,” he said. “I'm not nearly as fast, but I feel like we're both pretty athletic and have a similar-ish game. So, I think I fit in pretty well with it.”
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