Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1547169
6 OCT. 31, 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY ERIC HANSEN I t took until the end of September for someone on Notre Dame football's weekly injury list to migrate from the "out for at least the next game" clas- sification to "out for the season." By mid-October, there were two of them, and neither goes by the name of Charles Jagusah. For the high-ceiling, low-luck-with- injuries senior offensive lineman, who's 21 months removed from his most recent college game, that in itself is a victory. There may not be a firm timetable for Jagusah to even start practicing for the first time since breaking his left hu- merus in July 2025, but there's hope. And head coach M a rc u s Fre e m a n painted a picture of what that looks like when asked about J a g u s a h 's s ta t u s ahead of the BYU game Oct. 17. "We have a developmental lift on Fri- day mornings," Freeman said, "and I was in there with those guys. And I saw Big Charles hang-cleaning some good weight. He said that was the first time he's hang-cleaned that much weight, and so there's progress. There's progress. "He's making progress in his bicep and tricep. And I continue to remain hope- ful, as does he. And we just got to trust the process, right? Like, keep working, keep working. When you're dealing with nerves, when you're dealing with, really, a traumatic injury like he had, it takes time. But as long as you continue to see progress, man, there's a lot of hope. And I hope we do see him this year." DIFFERENT PATHS, SHARED PURPOSE Two other players injured in the against Wisconsin Sept. 6 will be seen this year, it appears. Sixth-year defensive tackle Jason Onye (left ankle), in fact, was tentatively set to make his return at BYU, barring an 11th-hour setback. And junior safety Brauntae Johnson (left foot) remains on track to return in "Novemberish," per Freeman. "He's exactly as we thought once we did the scans and did his surgery," Free- man said. "We knew his recovery would be longer than Jason's. You're talking about a foot that he previously injured [in 2024]. He's right on the timeline that we expect." Meanwhile, there will be no 2026 re- turn timeline for two Irish players who never got out of the starting blocks. In late September, sophomore wide receiver and Ohio State transfer Quincy Porter was ruled out for the season follow- ing a setback in his recovery from January knee surgery. Two weeks later, freshman cornerback Chaz Smith received the same prognosis after suffering a new knee injury. Smith had missed the first six games of the season recovering from a wrist injury. Their circumstances differ, but the challenge of staying connected to the team while recovering from injury is something Freeman has made a priority. The physical side of returning to action after a long layoff, as offensive guard Matty Augustine did with his Oct. 10 season de- but versus Stanford, is well-grounded in sports science. The mental side is more of an art, but Freeman leans into both aspects to keep injured players engaged and pre- pare them for their eventual return. "The mental side is, you have to stay engaged," Freeman said. "How do you im- prove when you're hurt? Well, 'I need to be in every meeting. I need to be coaching when I'm not doing some of the recovery, return-to-play stuff that I do off the field.' "They coach their position. They help the guys that are actually getting prac- tice reps, because it keeps them sharp, but it helps your teammates. There's a lot of different ways to continue to stay sharp and stay ready even though you're not out there playing." THE CHOICE TO DO MORE Onye actually took it a step further. He's been volunteering for scout-team reps to get extra work while giving the Irish's first-team offense a more realistic look at what it will face on Saturdays. And he has had a D-line side- kick in his recent volunteer scout-team work: junior defensive tackle Tionne Gray. "Sometimes when we do some third- down stuff on Wednesdays and they're not getting reps with the ones and twos because of a certain personnel," Free- man said, "they go down and do scout- ing, because they want to get work in for themselves. But they also know it's go- ing to help give the offense a good look. "I point out those guys because I think it's unique because they're self- less. Instead of just standing on the sideline and watching the other guys practice in the third-down period, they choose to go. They weren't made to. "They choose to go over there and get personal work in and help our team. And so it's a reflection of the culture." Jagusah has played in only five games in three and a half seasons because of multiple injuries. And yet he feeds that same culture, and the culture feeds him. Feeds hope. Fuels dreams. ✦ UNDER THE DOME WHERE HOPE TAKES HOLD Another glimpse of the culture sustaining Notre Dame's injured players While there is not a firm timetable for Charles Jagusah to begin practicing with the team, he has been involved in lifting in the weight room. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER