SOUTH BEND — Notre Dame football has suffered its first two casualties of fall training camp, losing offensive lineman Matty Augustine and defensive back Chaz Smith to injuries that will require surgery.
Both players are expected to return to play this season, Notre Dame announced on Wednesday, Aug. 12.
Augustine, a second-year player expected to challenge Sullivan Absher for the starting job at right guard, has a broken fifth metatarsal in his right foot. At 6-foot-7 and 315 pounds, Augustine had drawn praise from the coaching staff going back to the spring.
“Matty has had an incredible spring and has put himself in a position to compete to be one of the five (starters),” offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock said after the Blue-Gold Game in April.
Augustine signed with Notre Dame out of the Brunswick School in Greenwich, CT, the alma mater of Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua.
Smith, a 6-1, 180-pound freshman from Knoxville, TN, has a scaphoid fracture in his right wrist. He was slated for a reserve role but could have factored on special teams, where the competition is wide open in the new “5-for-5” era of age-based eligibility.
Aaron Henry, co-defensive coordinator for the Irish, praised Smith’s progress after practice on Saturday, saying he had greatly improved his press coverage technique since the spring.
QB Blake Hebert, two others also missed Wednesday’s practice
Wednesday’s open portion of practice did not include quarterback Blake Hebert (excused absence) while wide receiver Quincy Porter (offseason patellar tendon surgery) and defensive back Dallas Golden worked on the side.
Hebert was tending to a personal matter, according to a source, leaving freshman quarterbacks Noah Grubbs and Teddy Jarrard to share second-team practice snaps behind starter CJ Carr.
Golden missed time near the end of spring practice with a lower back strain, but the reason for Wednesday’s exclusion wasn’t immediately known.
Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for the South Bend Tribune and NDInsider.com. Follow him on social media @MikeBerardino.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Two Notre Dame football reserves will require surgery
Reporting by Mike Berardino, South Bend Tribune / South Bend Tribune
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By Mike Berardino, South Bend Tribune | USA TODAY Network
