SOUTH BEND — Riley Leonard, expected to be Notre Dame football's starting quarterback, is back after undergoing revision surgery on his right ankle.
The Duke transfer will be sidelined for “the next few weeks” after Friday's surgery to “address a stress fracture that was starting to develop,” according to Ireland coach Marcus Freeman.
Leonard underwent tightrope surgery in mid-January to stabilize his right ankle, which he injured in the final seconds of a game against Notre Dame on Sept. 30 last fall. Leonard hung up his walking boots by early February and appeared to be on track in the first two spring practice sessions open to the media (March 7 and March 20).
Friday's surgery was essentially to replace one plate in Leonard's ankle with another.
Double trouble:Notre Dame coordinator Mike Denbrock has another two-way quarterback in Riley Leonard.
“The doctors thought it went very well,” Freeman said. “The overall prognosis and ankle health is good. We'll see when he comes back. We're not giving a timetable. We're not saying he's out for the spring. .
Saturday was the fourth of 15 practice sessions held at Notre Dame this spring, including the Blue-Gold Game on April 20th. Freeman said after the first padded practice of the spring that the first-team offense was limited to just six or seven snaps.
For now, third-year QB Steve Angeli is active with the first team, while redshirt freshman Kenny Minchey and junior CJ Carr are on the second and third teams, respectively.
Freeman said that's likely to be the plan until Leonard returns. New offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock was hired in December after two seasons at LSU.
“Listen, at some point you have to name a starting quarterback,” Freeman said. “Not having Riley in spring ball changed the process a little bit to be able to do that. When you feel ready to do it — is it fall camp? Is it after spring ball? ? – I don't know.”
Angeli led Notre Dame to a Sun Bowl victory over Oregon State in his first career start.
“At this point, just with the experience and the evidence that he's shown, Steve is ahead of the rest,” Freeman said. “We need to continue to look at our body of work. You know I love competition. Being able to have quarterback competition is so exciting to me because it brings everyone together. Because I think we can grow even more.
“But I also understand, as coach Den Brock and coach (Gino) Gudugli have said, there has to be continuity between the quarterback and the offensive line. I'm sure they'll name him (the starting pitcher) at some point, but I don’t know when that will be.”
Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for NDInsider.com and is active on social media @MikeBerardino.
