Injuries have been a prevalent point of discussion for Notre Dame football early in the 2021 season. Add two more players to the list of those who will not be able to suit up for the remainder of the year.
Freshman cornerback Jojo Johnson was scheduled to have ACL surgery this week. Junior defensive lineman Osita Ekwonu had surgery on a torn achilles tendon over the offseason.
They join linebackers Marist Liufau, Shayne Simon and Paul Moala as Fighting Irish players who will watch from the sideline for the rest of the season. Freshman left tackle Blake Fisher will be watching with them for a few more weeks, too. He injured his knee in the season opener at Florida State.
Just because Notre Dame can’t seem to stay away from the injury bug, sophomore left tackle Michael Carmody, playing in Fisher’s place, suffered an ankle sprain in his first career start against Toledo. Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly said Carmody is a game-time decision against Purdue.
Kelly said offensive line coach Jeff Quinn will not rush to put Carmody in a comprising situation against stout Purdue pass rusher George Karlaftis, who had 7.5 sacks and 17.0 tackles for loss playing on the edge of the Boilermakers’ defense in 2019.
“In some instances he might be ready, but we have to be able to evaluate him against one of the best in the country,” Kelly said.
If Carmody is not ready, sophomore Tosh Baker will likely get the nod at left tackle. He replaced Carmody against Toledo. Kelly said offensive linemen Andrew Kristofic, Rocco Spindler and John Dirksen are in a position to get reps at the two guard positions to relieve junior Zeke Correll and graduate senior Cain Madden. Kelly said that duo’s production of play could increase by limiting their reps just a tad.
Kelly has not said specifically why junior vyper Jordan Botelho did not appear in either of Notre Dame’s first two games of the season, but he said Botelho is available and ready to go against Purdue. The same goes for freshman running back Logan Diggs, who impressed during fall camp but has not yet made his college debut.