Brian Kelly Talks Injuries, Week 2 of Notre Dame Fall Camp

Brian Kelly spoke with the media on Saturday and offered almost a full injury report as well as updates at some key positions.

• Notre Dame worked on primarily situational work on Saturday – the coaches were not given the situations they would have to call plays in before practice as Kelly wanted to see how they responded.
• Tony Springmann’s injury status is still unclear but Kelly said that he will more information on the injury by his next scheduled media session on Thursday.   He is definitely out for Temple though.
• Doug Randolph will have corrective surgery on his shoulder and will not play this year.  Another tough loss for Notre Dame.
• Danny Spond, as noted yesterday, told the team that he will no longer be playing football due to medical reasons.  Sad news for a great young kid and for the team.  Spond is going to stay with the team and help coach the drop backers.  Notre Dame will also cross train Romeo Okwara at the position with Spond no longer an active member of the team.
• Kelly praised Corey Robinson’s consistency in catching the football.  He said that he still needs to get stronger and more physical, but said there was no doubt that he could help them on the perimeter.
• On Greg Braynt, Kelly said it’s much more difficult for a freshman running back as opposed to wide receiver like Robinson because he needs to learn the entire offense.
• Ishaq Williams will be coming into the game immediately as the 3rd DE and will be playing with his hand on the ground rushing the quarterback.  He is going to get quite a bit of work there according to Kelly.
• On Ronnie Stanley, Kelly said that the game comes to him pretty easy and has all of the tangible traits that you look for in an offensive tackle.
• Steve Elmer can play any position right now other than center.  Kelly said he could play either tackle or guard position if need be but his most comfortable position is left tackle.  Look for Elmer to play this year and then step in for Zack Martin next year.
• On the condition that Stephon Tuitt came into camp with, Kelly said that Tuitt lost three months of some core workouts due to the off-season hernia surgery.  As a result, Tuitt gained some fat in the process but also gained strength.  Kelly said that the staff is confident that they’ll get him back down pretty easily.
• Kelly praised Prince Shembo for the passion that he plays the game with calling him a throwback for his energy and toughness.  He did say that Prince Shembo is not a vocal leader but leads by example.
• Cole Luke is really close to being on the field at the corner back position and has been playing  as the nickel back as has Austin Collinsworth.  Either of those two at the nickel gives the defense more opportunities to play man coverage according to Kelly.
• Nick Tausch and Kyle Brindza have been battling for the kicking duties so far in camp and the staff will begin to make their final evaluations there based on all of the numbers they have recorded over the course of the first two camp.
• Elijah Shumate hasn’t locked down a starting position yet but will be on the field a lot this year regardless.  Kelly mentioned Collinworth and Eilar Hardy as competition for Shumate so far.