Riley Leonard explains leaving for a play in Notre Dame's game vs Louisville

Now that Notre Dame football is officially back in the hunt for the College Football Playoffs, there is one big concern for the Fighting Irish. That would be losing their starting quarterback and hoping that the stable of QBs they have in reserve can do the job.

It seems odd, after wanting Leonard benched after the season’s first few games, there is concern about him getting injured. There was certainly concern in the game against the Louisville Cardinals where there was one play where he seemed to be in considerable pain.

In fact, the Notre Dame football team’s starting quarterback had to briefly leave the contest against the Cards. At the time, he seemed to be in extreme pain. However, he returned to the field one play later and didn’t seem to be any worse for wear.

After the game, Leonard explained what happened and why he was able to shake off what looked like a tough injury so quickly.

Riley Leonard explains his brief exist in Notre Dame football game

The Athletic’s Pete Sampson grabbed the quote from the “injured” QB, and it wasn’t exactly that. Leonard told the press that he just got the wind knocked out of him, and needed a play to regroup. He said that “it was really no problem after a couple minutes. It really didn’t play an impact on me.”

Having the wind knocked out of someone can certainly look worse than it is. While it’s extremely uncomfortable in the moment, the pain wears off quickly, and leave no lasting affect as Notre Dame football’s QB1 pointed out.