Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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8 MAY 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY TYLER HORKA R iley Leonard has wheels. He used them to run for 1,224 yards and 19 touchdowns on 229 carries in three sea- sons at Duke. His new wheels, though, aren't quite as useful on a football field. Far less useful, in fact. They hardly roll. Leonard whipped himself around the turf of the Irish Athletics Center on a medical scooter the morning of March 27 while the rest of his healthy teammates dug into it with cleats, fully padded and ready for another spring practice. Leonard, in his current state, was not ready for any type of physical exertion outside of planting his left leg and propelling himself forward. In late March, he had a second ankle surgery since arriving in South Bend in January. He was not able to even get a full handful of official Notre Dame practices under his belt before he had to get on the operating table again, jeopar- dizing his availability between then and the annual Blue-Gold Game April 20. Notre Dame head coach Marcus Free- man said March 23 the second proce- dure was performed to address a stress fracture that was beginning to develop. "Basically, the surgery was to exchange the current plate he had in his ankle with a new one," Freeman said. "The doctors thought it went extremely well. The over- all prognosis and health of his ankle is ex- cellent. So, we'll see when he can get back. We're not putting a timetable [on it]. We know it's going to take a few weeks." Freeman did not rule Leonard out for the rest of spring ball, but on March 27 Leonard didn't look like someone who was going to shed a boot, scooter and crutches in time to go through an ac- tual 11-on-11 football game, televised on Peacock and played in front of the watchful gaze of thousands of fans in person at Notre Dame Stadium, in just a little more than three weeks. Given those circumstances and Leonard's history with that bum right ankle, it'd probably be wise to just hold him out. This is the same ankle Notre Dame defensive tackle Howard Cross III came down on in the final minute of the Fight- ing Irish's 21-14 win over Leonard's Duke Blue Devils Sept. 30 of last year. The same ankle Leonard rested for three weeks due to a severe sprain caused by that hit. The same ankle he probably played too quickly on; three weeks did not appear to be long enough. He re-injured it against Florida State in his first game back fol- lowing the loss to Notre Dame. Leonard only played one more game thereafter in 2023. He came away from a loss to Louisville with a turf toe injury, and he shut himself down for the rest of the year. He never had ankle surgery, though; the hope was he could rest it all through November and December and be ready for winter workouts at Notre Dame in January. Welp. Nope. Notre Dame team doctors deemed it necessary to perform a Tight- Rope surgery upon his arrival in South Bend. That procedure went smoothly, according to Leonard and his doctors. "I think some people say it's more stable than it was before, so we'll see," Leonard said. We've seen. It wasn't. The stress fracture forming was a different deal than the original sprain and the fallout from it, but it's all cen- tered around the same joint. The reality is Leonard's right ankle has not been healthy for quite some time, and he's UNDER THE DOME INJURED IRISH Two of Notre Dame's most important players, quarterback Riley Leonard and cornerback Benjamin Morrison, suffer setbacks in spring practice Leonard has had two ankle surgeries since arriving at Notre Dame in January. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER