Notre Dame Football: Health Updates on Benjamin Morrison and Mitchell Evans

Marcus Freeman updated statuses as both come back from surgeries

Sep 23, 2023; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish tight end Mitchell Evans (88) celebrates a catch for a first down in the fourth quarter against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Notre Dame Stadium. / Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

Notre Dame football opened its fall camp session Wednesday, exactly one month before the Irish travel to Texas A&M for a season opening showdown.

Notre Dame had multiple key players undergo different procedures since they last dressed for a game and Marcus Freeman spent part of his press conference discussing those.

The good news for Notre Dame?

The key players it has been missing are set to be fully cleared in a short amount of time.

Marcus Freeman: 'Everybody will be cleared'

"Mitchell Evans and Kevin Bauman and Benjamin Morrison, all returning to play. They all practiced today in a limited role but, but all are in return to play protocol" is how Freeman introduced those three names during his presser.

When asked for more detail the Notre Dame head coach gave a little bit more detail and confirmation.

"Yeah, everybody will be cleared by the time we get to game week. I just don't know exactly when it will be over these next upcoming weeks, but they'll be good to go."

Freeman's Confidence is Telling

I've seen a lot of press conferences and media sessions in a variety of different sports at different levels over the years.

Marcus Freeman's answer when slightly pressed on when that availability might come, made it seem it will be coming much sooner rather than later.

In these situations, if there is any doubt, a head coach with even the least amount of public relations knowledge (and Freeman clearly has a ton), knows not to make guarantees. If anything, they air on the side of caution so they don't look like they were trying to cover something up down the road.

The way Freeman handled the question made it appear crystal clear that Morrison, Evans, and Bauman will be back - and his clarity in delivering the message made it appear those full clearances will likely come a lot more than just a few days before gameday.

Related Articles:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Morrison (written before camp)
Marcus Freeman updates Riley Leonard's health status