Notre Dame Football Fall Camp ’16 Injury Updates

Micah Dew Treadway has a “Jones fracture”

Sophomore Micah Dew Treadway has a Jones fracture of the 5th metatarsal and will be out for eight weeks.  What is a Jones fracture you ask?  Here’s what Wikipedia tells us.

A Jones fracture is a fracture in the meta-diaphyseal junction of the fifth metatarsal of the foot. The proximal end of the metatarsal, where the Jones fracture occurs, is near the midportion of the foot, on the fifth ray (of which the 5th toe belongs). Wikipedia

Notre Dame is looking for a fourth – and possibly fifth – interior lineman for a 4-5 man rotation inside with Daniel Cage, Jerry Tillery, and Jarron Jones.  With Dew Treadway out, that leaves Elijah Taylor and Brandon Tiassum as the top options for the 4th and 5th spot.

Nick Watkins out at least four week

Nick Watkins has a procedure to stimulate bone growth and will be reevaluated in four weeks.  Kelly said they are hopeful that this “does the trick” and if it does he could be back in four weeks.  It wasn’t exactly a ringing endorsement though and Kelly sounded more hopeful than optimistic when discussing Watkins.

Devin Butler is already out til at least mid to late October.  Losing Watkins for an extended period as well would really hit the cornerback depth.  Watkins was Shaun Crawford’s top competitor to start opposite Cole Luke.  This pretty much pens Crawford’s name onto the depth chart.  Nick Coleman will see an increased role as will the freshmen corners – who have been impressive already.

Hamstring Injuries for Cage, Studstill, and Adams

Daniel Cage has a grade one hamstring according to Kelly who also added that Devin Studstill and Josh Adams are battling hamstring issues as well.  Kelly said that Adams injury is to a lesser extent than Studstill and Cage.   It didn’t sound like any of these were too concerning right now, but a hamstring for a big guy like Cage could linger.  Notre Dame needs a healthy “Cager” on the inside of the line this fall.  On a positive, Cage’s hamstring will give some of the younger guys some more reps.

With Adams nursing that hammy though, Dexter Williams has been getting more reps and has been impressive.  I’ve been hyping up Williams quite a bit this off-season and will continue to do so.  I think Williams is going to provide some big plays this fall.

Dexter Williams has a “Boo Boo”

Speaking of Williams, he apparently went down towards the end of practice, but nothing to see here.  According to Kelly, “someone called it a boo boo”.  That got a round of laughs from the media.

Unrelated, it’s striking to see how much more at ease Kelly has become with the media than he was even three, four years ago.  He is clearly in charge and clearly comfortable in his role.  That wasn’t always the case.

Torii Hunter has a “little bit of tendinitis”

Kelly mentioned Torii Hunter as have “a little bit of tendinitis” and being held back a bit as a precaution.  He said that there were a number of players they were monitoring based on their work volume so far in camp and a few players would be held back at times strictly for being cautious.

Equanimeous St. Brown Battling Thumb Injury

Tucked into a later update from Kelly, was the admission that sophomore wide receiver Equanimeous St. Brown is battling through a thumb injury that is impacting his ability to catch the ball and leading to some drops.  ESB hasn’t missed practice time for it and it doesn’t sound too worrisome, but it brought back some memories of Corey Robinson battling through minor injuries in 2015 that led to a drop in production.