Notre Dame Injury Report: Kicker Uncertainty, Cooper Flanagan Nears Return
Notre Dame’s injury report has remained relatively stable this season — a welcome change from last fall when health was a weekly concern.
The most pressing injury appears to be graduate transfer kicker Noah Burnette, as he’s battling a right hip injury.
Burnette has been perfect so far this season, connecting on all three field goal attempts and all 13 extra points. His backup, freshman Erik Schmidt, has struggled in limited action, missing his lone field goal attempt and having an extra point blocked last week against Boise State.
The inconsistency has led Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman to be a little more aggressive on fourth down, which isn’t necessarily a negative. However, in a tight game, the Irish will need a reliable kicker.
Freeman said he was encouraged by Burnette’s progress after missing the Boise State game, but stopped short of committing to his availability for this weekend. The current focus is on determining why Burnette continues to experience setbacks.
“We gotta find the right formula,” Freeman stated. “He's in a really good spot right now, but he was in a really good spot a couple weeks ago and then got injured again.”
Rest is the easy answer, but for the position, Burnette needs to get reps in during the week.
“We gotta kick him,” Freeman said. “We have to. You can't go weeks without kicking and expect to make it in the game like anything. You gotta practice. But is it practice? Is it treatment? Is it some type of fueling thing with his muscles? We have to get this thing figured out.
“From the kid to us, to sports medicine, to nutrition, we're all trying to figure out, hey, what is the right formula to make sure he's available for Saturday, but also he's prepared to do what he's asked to do.”
Freeman also noted that Notre Dame will soon have to make a final decision regarding Burnette’s backup. Schmidt and Marcello Diomede have been competing for the job, but Freeman doesn’t want that competition to linger anymore.
“I had a long conversation with Coach Biagi on Sunday,” explained Freeman. “We've been in a kicking battle between Erik and Marcello for a couple weeks, just trying to prepare in case Noah couldn't go. I think it's time, at some point this week, we just gotta say, ‘Hey, if Noah can't go, this is gonna be the guy’ because I, as the head coach, have to have confidence in that person. Our team has to have confidence, and that young person has to have confidence.”
There is also positive news on the injury front as tight end Cooper Flanagan is close to returning to action.
Flanagan suffered an Achilles injury in the Sugar Bowl and was dressed for the first time all season on Saturday.
“He's getting closer,” said Freeman. “He started to get a little bit of reps last week in practice. We'll see. We're going to try to add a couple more reps to him in practice to try to work up that capacity of how much he can do in the game. Again, it's the value, right? We need to make sure when he's back and ready to roll, we can get the most value out of Cooper Flanagan.”
The California native would provide an immediate boost to the run game as Flanagan carved out a role as a true freshman as a blocker.
Notre Dame isn’t rushing him back to action, but it appears Flanagan will be on the field very soon.
“He would be a huge addition when he's ready,” said Freeman. “I don't know if it'll be this week, next week, but he's getting closer. Right now, it's just not the injury anymore as much as the capacity to give us what we need on the football field, but he's an impact player. When we're able to get him back, you'll see him out there on the field for sure.”
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