Marcus Freeman Updates Notre Dame Injuries Heading Into Ohio State Matchup

Notre Dame should be as close to one hundred percent health for this Saturday’s game against Ohio State as the Fighting Irish have been all season. Fighting Irish head football coach Marcus Freeman updated the injury status of a pair of his players during his Thursday Zoom media conference.

Fighting Irish tight end Mitchell Evans missed last week’s home game against Central Michigan due to a concussion, but Evans will be back on the field this Saturday night.

"He practiced all week and will be ready to go,” Freeman said of Evans.

Evans played in Notre Dame’s first three games against Navy, Tennessee State and North Carolina State. He had four receptions for 61 yards against TSU and one catch for two yards the next week against NC State.

Gabriel Rubio will be back this week as well. The defensive tackle hasn’t played since Notre Dame’s season opener against Navy. He suffered a knee injury in that game and missed the last three weeks.

"He’ll be ready to roll on Saturday,” Freeman said of Rubio. "He practiced all week, too.”

Rubio had one tackle in the win over the Midshipmen. The 6-5, 305-poud defensive tackle gives the Irish more size and physicality in what will be an important matchup with Ohio State’s offensive line this week.

Irish defensive coordinator Al Golden said earlier this week that he didn’t have the same practice workload as other players on the line as they brought him back into the mix post-injury. 

Freeman noted earlier in the week that veteran linebacker and team captain JD Bertrand was already cleared to play this week.