Exactly nine months since Mitchell Evans underwent surgery on his left knee to repair a torn ACL, the Notre Dame tight end started Thursday’s preseason camp practice without wearing a knee brace.
Evans was not yet taking on all his eventual responsibilities on day two of Notre Dame’s preseason camp, but he’s confident about his status ahead of the season opener at Texas A&M on Aug. 31.
“I feel good,” Evans told Inside ND Sports. “I’m strong. I feel confident. Just working back into football things.”
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The 6-foot-5, 260-pound Evans is officially in Notre Dame football’s “return to play” protocol as the training staff monitors his continued recovery from the injury he suffered in Notre Dame’s 58-7 victory over Pittsburgh on Oct. 28. In the first couple of practices, Evans sat out the more physically demanding parts of practice with more contact.
Evans will build up to being fully cleared by ND’s head football athletic trainer Rob Hunt.
“I always just listen to what Rob tells me to do,” Evans said. “But I think the next part is getting some more strength, getting some more confidence. Increasing what I’m doing every day and see how my body reacts.
“Even when I’m clear to go, you still have to stay up on the things and maintain. I can’t just say, ‘Screw it,’ and go back to what I used to do. That’s how other injuries happen.”
Evans learned how to manage the rebab process at Notre Dame following a foot fracture in the summer of 2022. The recovery from that surgery required Evans to miss the beginning of his sophomore season. He learned patience and the importance of listening to his body.
A couple of Notre Dame’s tight ends can relate. Graduate senior Kevin Bauman and junior Eli Raridon have both suffered torn ACLs twice in the last few years. The position group is so used to the rehab process that Evans joked that the training room should be renamed the tight end room.
But preparing for the season isn’t a joking matter for Evans. Dating back to the spring, he’s been trying to help make his transition to playing easier.
“Going into camp, I have to be more locked in mentally than I’ve ever been before,” Evans said. “That’s what I’m trying to do: be more of a leader, be more mentally focused. Even though I’m not physically in the play, taking mental reps, looking at the signal, looking at what the defense is trying to do and paying attention to more of the procedure part of football than actually playing it.”
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Evans had and still has plenty to learn about the scheme being installed by new offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock. Evans quickly learned that Denbrock likes to play with tempo and keep opposing teams uncomfortable.
“We’re moved around everywhere on the field,” Evans said of the tight ends in Denbrock’s offense. “We’re running all different types of routes. I’m pretty sure some defenses call a bunch of their strengths to the tight end. So when they move us around, it screws up their defense. Coach Denbrock knows that. He’s big on making us a big focal point. We’ve done great at adapting to what he wants us to do each play.”
Presumed starting quarterback Riley Leonard, a transfer from Duke, also missed time in the winter and spring with an ankle injury. Evans and Leonard made up for lost time by finding time to throw together outside of team activities and exchange ideas on how to handle routes and coverages.
The rapport Evans built with quarterback Sam Hartman last season went a long way in helping him become the team leader in receptions despite missing the final four games of the season. Evans turned those 29 catches into 422 yards and one touchdown. Most of that production (24 catches, 359 yards and the TD) came in a five-game span when Evans became the clear threat in ND’s passing game.
Evans said he didn’t notice a difference with how teams were trying to cover him before his injury, which may explain why he kept finding success.
“The plays I had a couple of the big gains on, it wasn’t directly schemed for me. It’s just the way the defense played that specific coverage against us. They picked the coverage for that play. It just kind of happened, fell in line. And Sam did Sam things. He has experience and found a way to get me the ball.”
When Evans returns to full strength, he doesn’t just want to match what he did last season. He wants to keep improving. For him, that’s consistency in everything that’s asked of him. But he knows his blocking can be taken to another level.
“I love blocking,” Evans said. “I just feel like sometimes I can get under people with leverage in certain positions, but sometimes I feel like I do that and it doesn’t work in some ways. I get that in football sometimes they’re just going to have you. You’re not going to win every rep. But, obviously, I want to win more reps than I lose.”
Any reps at all beats what Evans has been going through since last November. But he persevered through the recovery process and found a real sense of urgency heading into his senior season and final one at Notre Dame.
“I haven’t been this eager to play football since, I don’t know, middle school. Whatever you want to say,” Evans said. “I’m more energetic, more excited and ready to go this season.”
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