As Notre Dame football turns its attention to Michigan State and Week 3, the Irish have released their weekly availability chart, and there's a bit of good news mixed in with some bummers.
Right out of the gate, safety Brauntae Johnson and defensive lineman Jason Onye are both out again this weekend. Both Johnson and Onye sustained injuries in the first half of the Week 1 game against Wisconsin and didn't return during that contest.
They were both ruled out for Week 2 against Rice with ankle or foot injuries. However, Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman said after that Wisconsin game that both players aren't expected to be out for the rest of the season and will return at some point this year.
Granted, the hope was that Johnson, at the very least, would only need two weeks before he could be a possibility of returning. That he's not questionable but is still "out" certainly suggests it will be quite a while before he's ready to go.
Notre Dame football remains without Johnson and Onye but avoids Guerby Lambert setback
The piece of good news for the Fighting Irish is that Guerby Lambert, who was spotted limping late in the game against Rice, is not listed on the availability chart at all. That means that he's fine and will be at full speed on the offensive line this week.
In addition to Onye and Johnson, the Irish ruled out a talented transfer wide receiver for a third consecutive week because of a left knee injury. On Aug. 21, Freeman announced that Porter had undergone a “minor procedure” that would delay his return.
“He’s still a couple of weeks out,” Freeman said on August 21“He’s getting better. We had a minor procedure today to get him a little bit quicker, to hopefully being able to help us. He’s still got a little bit of time to be in a position where we feel like he can help this team."
The longer that Porter is out, the more likely it appears that he could miss the season in general. That's especially bad news considering that there's no such thing as redshirting and getting a year back. The NCAA does still have some waivers available but the organization has made it clear that players who earn them will be extremely few and far between.
With this week's opponent being Michigan State, there is a bit more of a concern that Notre Dame doesn't have its entire starting defense back. However, the Irish have showed that they take the "next man up" mentality very seriously and the defense certainly played well without Johnson and Oney playing a down last Saturday.
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