Mike Brey Indefinitely Shuts Down PG Matt Farrell
The hits keep coming for Mike Brey’s team as the Irish have battled injury after injury this season.
On Thursday, Brey announced point guard Matt Farrell would miss at least two more games as he battled back from an ankle injury that caused him to miss three games earlier this month.
“We’re going to shut Matt Farrell down again, indefinitely,” stated Brey. “He didn’t make any progress with that thing healing up Sunday through Tuesday. He was really sore Wednesday morning in practice, so we did an MRI, and we have a bone bruise in that thing.
“Obviously, it was a pretty violent sprain. The swelling is down, but the bruise is there. He’s definitely out the next two and maybe more. We’ll come back and reevaluate him next Wednesday.”
Farrell returned to the lineup for the Louisville game and averaged 14.5 points and 7.0 assists in his two games back. However, the senior captain shot just 10-for-36 from the field in those games.
“You were hoping you were making progress, but the Louisville and Clemson game and he’s not there,” Brey explained. “He’s kind of dragging that leg. We can’t keep massaging it where he is playing at 80 percent the rest of the way.
“We can’t bring him back until he’s healthy. If it’s four or five games, that’s just the way it’s got to be.”
The New Jersey native is known for his tenacious emotion and will to compete, but Brey admitted Farrell didn’t put up much resistance to shutting things down for the next few weeks.
“He’s almost shaking his head,” Brey said. “I give him credit because he’s handled it pretty darn well. I know he knows he can help us, but he can’t help us if he’s dragging that thing around. He’s realistic.
“He knew he was faking it. We iced it, and then we don’t practice him and then play him. I think he knew he had to shut it down and get right.”
Notre Dame is now done Farrell, Bonzie Colson and DJ Harvey heading into a Saturday’s game against Virginia Tech and Monday’s game at Duke.
Brey can’t replace Farrell, but it provides a chance for Notre Dame’s future to get quality minutes and to continue building their games.
“We want to keep John (Mooney) in the starting lineup,” said Brey. “He gives you a scorer and a guy that can make shots. He holds his own on the backboard. Nik (Djogo) goes into the starting lineup now. Both guys can make shots, so that would help us a little bit.”
“We have to continue to defend and rebound. We can’t let up on that end because that’s putting us in position. We’ve just not been able to score enough, especially on the road. I’ve even mentioned to Matt Gregory and Liam (Nelligan) that they need be ready if we have to go to them.”
ISD Video: Reaction to the Matt Farrell news