Notre Dame football offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock has talked a lot about how much growth he’s seen in his young receivers this spring. Unfortunately, it appears that when he talked about the players that he was impressed with, Micah Gilbert wasn’t among them.
The reason for that isn’t that the freshman receiver doesn’t want to make progress. It’s because it turns out that he suffered an injury that surprised Irish onlookers. It turns out the talented pass catcher broke his hand in the first drill of the first spring practice of the year.
The Notre Dame football player underwent surgery in order to make sure that the hand heals properly and he’s now out of action for the next 6-to-8 weeks. However, perhaps underlining the things that Denbrock has liked about his receiver room this year, Gilbert has made it very clear he’s not just sitting and sulking. Instead he’s making sure to learn all he can on the side, even while he can’t get into the action.
Micah Gilbert focused on growth despite spring setback for Notre Dame football
“Learning the playbook like the back of my hand,” Gilbert said about what’s been doing instead of practicing. “Just trying to get the mental reps that I know could help me when I actually step on the field. Everything I can do without catching the ball, without using my (right) hand, I’m doing.”
That means that while he might not be going out in drills that the rest of his team is going through, he’s still working out. He’s doing exercises that will hopefully make sure he gets all the range of movement in his hand when it’s fully healed. He’s also working on the technical aspects of being a wide receiver for the Notre Dame football team.
“I can’t catch anything, but I can focus on my feet,” he added. “I can focus on my arms moving out of the break. Little stuff like that. It’s really constant working, constant reps. You get better the more you do it, so just trying to be intentional every rep that I do, even mental reps out here.”
Micah Gilbert has some makeup to do once he’s able to go out and catch balls again. But it’s clear he thinks he can be a factor for the Notre Dame football team when the fall rolls around.