Turns out, reports of the demise of Riley Leonard’s ankle have been greatly exaggerated. Reports earlier this week said Notre Dame’s new transfer quarterback, by way of Duke, was unable to bear weight on the ankle he injured last season after having surgery last month.
The surgery part is accurate. Tight rope surgery, to be exact, for the high ankle sprain that still had not healed properly since the injury four-plus months ago. But it was obvious the moment that Leonard walked up the steps to the second floor of the Irish Athletic Center Friday afternoon that he was able to bear weight on the ankle.
"I feel great,” Leonard said during his first media availability at Notre Dame. "I'm bouncing around. Obviously, no boot, nothing. You probably wouldn't even realize I got surgery. That story broke a couple days ago. It wasn't really a secret. I tell people all the time, like I was riding around campus in my electric wheelchair thing, just scooting around. I was embracing it .... But it's been good, like it's been super easy. (Notre Dame football athletic trainer) Rob Hunt and the whole athletic training staff have been great with me. I should be back in a couple of weeks. I'm two weeks in right now and feeling great already, so no problem at all.”
Ironically, the injury occurred at the end of Notre Dame’s dramatic 21-14 win over Leonard and Duke on Sept. 30 when Fighting Irish nose guard Howard Cross came down on the then Duke quarterback on the Blue Devils’ final offensive play.
"(Cross) still owes me dinner,” Leonard said with a laugh. "I told him there's a Ruth's Chris, like right down the road. That was a lot of weight on my ankle.”
Leonard only played in two more games after suffering the injury, but he was a shell of his pre-injury self. He then missed Duke’s final five games, including their Birmingham Bowl win over Troy. He had a toe injury that slowed him as well. He hoped the extended rest while still at Duke would heal the ankle, and it did heal some, but further consultation with physicians led him to get the surgery after arriving at Notre Dame in January.
"We could risk it and play in spring and maybe in the fall and have no problems,” Leonard explained. "But there was a risk of re-injuring it, because it was a little loose. That's what they said.So we were just like, 'Let's get it done now, it's January.’ I've been out for like three months because of my toe, but at the end of the day, it’s still January. We're still early. So, we were like, 'Knock it out, four to six weeks, six to eight weeks, whatever it is.’ Might as well do it.”
Notre Dame’s social media posted a photo of Leonard going through workouts with his teammates on Thursday. He’s doing almost everything his teammates are doing, with slight exceptions.
"The only things I'm not doing are, like, sprinting right now,” Leonard said. "But everything else in the weight room, I'm doing with those guys.”
That leaves spring practice, which starts next month, and Notre Dame’s newest signal caller expects to be a full go when the rest of the team hits the field for practice.
"Hundred percent,” Riley responded when asked if he’ll be able to practice this spring. "Yeah. I think some people say it's more stable than it was before, so we’ll see.”
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