Notre Dame Cancels Crucial Early-Week Practice

Multiple sources confirmed a report that Notre Dame had cancelled its practice on Tuesday because of COVID-19 concerns a day after announcing four players had tested positive last week. In addition to those four, six football players had been placed in quarantine due to contact tracing.

Prior to Saturday’s game against South Florida, Notre Dame released a list of eight players who were being held out of competition without any further details on why.

The Irish are scheduled to play at Wake Forest this coming Saturday, although if they aren’t able to practice tomorrow, that could put that game in jeopardy.

Earlier this month, Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly said if teams missed two practices at the start of the week, that could be a reason to put off a game.

"You certainly can't be physical late in the week and one of them is probably a travel day,” Kelly said. “I would say if you're out of business Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, you're in trouble for having a team that can practice and be prepared…if you lose two or three days early in the week, you're hard-pressed to get your team ready."

ISD expert Jamie Uyeyama expanded on the importance of those early-week practices.

“Tuesday and Wednesday are critical days for college football teams,” Uyeyama said. “Those are the heavy work days when teams are hitting and specifically working on key parts of the game plan. Those are the days when teams work against the scout team for large portions of practice.

“Thursday and Friday are generally tempo days that are about staying mentally sharp. Without Tuesday and Wednesday as preparation days, it would be incredibly difficult to play a game for the players.”

It’s worth noting that both the Irish and the Demon Deacons are scheduled to have bye weeks next Saturday.