SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Jadarian Price’s rehab process wasn’t the hardest part of a year-long recovery from a ruptured Achilles tendon.
What Price, who suffered the injury in June 2022, struggled with the most was being around football so much without being on the field.
“The amount of time and hours we spend around football and watching but not being able to play, that was probably the toughest,” Price said Tuesday after Notre Dame football’s 17th practice since preseason camp started.
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The 5-foot-10, 206-pound Price started to gain confidence in the health of his left leg during summer workouts when he was cleared for full participation.
“Obviously that first down when we went live, I was like, ‘Yeah, OK. I’m back,’” Price said. “I’m not even thinking about the past anymore.”
Price made it through the most physical parts of the postseason without any significant setbacks. The depth in Notre Dame’s backfield with five scholarship running backs all capable of contributing this season has allowed the running backs to share the workload.
“My body’s doing great,” Price said. “I have no limitations physically. I feel very confident in my ability. Everyone on the team and all the coaches have as well. No limitations physically with my past injury.”
If not for his injury, Price likely would have found some playing time. He excelled during spring football in 2022 as an early enrolled freshman. He’s confident his athleticism hasn’t taken a hit since then either.
“I feel no different,” Price said. “At first, obviously, it takes a while to build that confidence back. But once you get going full speed, it’s like nothing happened. That’s how I truly feel right now. I feel like nothing even happened.”
Price played the role of workhouse as a four-star recruit out of Denison (Texas) High. In four seasons, he accumulated 706 carries for 4,990 yards and 55 touchdowns in 39 games. He added 64 receptions for 587 yards and three touchdowns out of the backfield.
He made a smooth transition to Notre Dame and capped a productive spring with 116 yards from scrimmage in the 2022 Blue-Gold Game. He only managed 12 rushing yards on nine carries, but he turned eight catches into 104 receiving yards. That included a 51-yard touchdown on a screen pass.
“That really gave me confidence pre-injury that I’ve done this before,” Price said. “Even though I haven’t played a down of college football under the lights on a Saturday night, I’ve still gotten the hang of it. I’ve gotten hit. I’ve scored a touchdown in the spring game. I’ve learned how to come together with my team and communicate. That’s what that spring taught me.”
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Price did plenty of learning about film study, including how to look for tendencies with defenders, while sidelined last season. But what he appreciated most was seeing how Audric Estimé and Logan Diggs brought leadership to the running back room even as younger players.
The duo combined for 1,741 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns on 321 carries while motivating each other to do more.
“Assignments are assignments. But the energy I saw from the sideline that our running back room brought, that was the biggest thing that I noticed,” Price said. “Just continuing to do those things, our assignments, but with energy. You need that in prime-time college football.”
Running backs coach Deland McCullough likes what he’s seen from Price physically, but sees some nuances he can improve to make himself a better back.
“The thing he has to overcome is the mental part — not overcome but continue to strengthen,” McCullough said. “Trusting his reads, route detail, different things like that. Physically the guy looks real good.”
Since Diggs transferred to LSU, a role as the No. 2 back behind Estimé has been up for grabs. Price, fellow sophomore Gi’Bran Payne, Penn State graduate transfer Devyn Ford and freshman Jeremiyah Love have all made their cases this preseason. All four could find themselves in a rotation with Estimé tasked with providing that same kind of energy.
“I can definitely see that in the future this upcoming fall season,” Price said. “I can see all of us getting a lot of success and feeding off of that success. The guy to my left or my right, he’s doing good and all of a sudden I break one. That really increases our chances of becoming a successful football team.”
McCullough likes to think about the running back operation as one that has many different roles that players can fill. Certain backs may be better near the goal line. Others may be better on third-and-long.
Regardless of the combination, there’s a lot of confidence within the room of the potential that’s about to be unleashed starting Aug. 26 against Navy in Ireland.
“We have a lot of different skill sets, a lot of talent, a lot of speed,” Price said. “We have one of the best groups in the country. I truly believe that. A lot of talent, a lot of skill and we’re close. That’s the biggest thing.”
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