Key Notre Dame Defender Breaks Foot in Opening Practice

Notre Dame's defensive line depth takes a significant hit

Notre Dame defensive tackle Gabriel Rubio (97) Wednesday, April 12, 2023, during spring football practice on the Notre Dame campus / Greg Swiercz / USA TODAY NETWORK

Notre Dame football kicked off fall camp on Wednesday but was unable to get out of day one without a significant injury taking place.

Junior tackle Gabriel Rubio suffered a broken foot Wednesday and has already had surgery to repair the break.

Notre Dame's football communications team announced the news on social media Thursday:

Junior DL Gabriel Rubio fractured his foot (second metatarsal) during practice on July 31.

He had successful surgery with Dr. Thomas Bemenderfer to repair the fracture and is expected to return to play this season.

— Notre Dame Football PR Team (@NDFootballPR) August 1, 2024

There are a couple of key takeaways here regarding the injury.

One is that the expectation is that Rubio will return to play this season.

The question is however - when?

Is Rubio looking at six to eight weeks before it's healed and he's ready to go?

Is it that long until he's able to start running and then football activities will come later?

It's not the news that Notre Dame certainly wanted to get on opening day of fall practice as Rubio's return to the roster after missing the spring gave the Irish depth on the defensive line's interior that it hasn't had in some time.

Now that depth takes a significant hit for likely at least the first month, if not longer, of the season.

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