Notre Dame QB Leonard hopes to resume jogging soon post surgery
SOUTH BEND — Notre Dame football quarterback Riley Leonard, 18 days removed from the second surgical procedure this offseason on his right ankle, offered an upbeat prognosis after Tuesday’s spring practice session.
“Physically this is the best my ankle has felt in about six months now, so we’re finally kind of over that hump,” Leonard said. “Kind of been put through the wringer for a while now but starting to figure it out. Starting to feel real good. I think next week we’ll be jogging, and hopefully it’s just uphill from there.”
The senior transfer from Duke has been hobbled in some capacity dating to a Sept. 30 home loss to Notre Dame. After a mid-January TightRope procedure to stabilize the high ankle sprain originally suffered on Howard Cross III’s gameclinching strip-sack, Leonard had a plate-exchange procedure on March 22 to ward off an impending stress fracture.
During open portions of Tuesday’s spring practice No. 9, Leonard was able to move gingerly while completing short passes on air and making handoffs. He did not participate when three Irish quarterbacks took turns leading a twominute drill on air with the top three units.
Leonard has progressed quickly from the knee scooter and crutches he used to get around the practice field on March 27. While playing in the Blue-Gold Game on April 20 remains unlikely, Leonard paused when asked about an expected clearance date for full football activities.
“That’s a good question,” he said. “Yeah, I wish I knew the answer. I ask them every day: ‘When am I going to be back fully?’ It’s more of like a let’s see how
you feel and just take it slow.
“At the end of the day, I know I’m missing spring ball for the most part but it’s still April. There’s no point of rushing this thing to get back for summer, even though obviously that’s extremely important. I anticipate here in the next three or four weeks. I have no doubt we can make that timeline.”
As for the mental hurdles of an extended absence, Leonard has tried to find positives along the way.
“Being able to take mental notes at practice has been really cool for me,” he said. “I’ve been in a similar offense in the past to this. Through film study and things like that, I think I’ll be able to fit right into this offense as long as I can just continue to build this chemistry off the field with the guys.”
Unsupervised summer throwing sessions will be key, he said.