Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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UNDER THE DOME "If we're playing a football game in April, he's cleared to play," Kelly said of Baratti. "Whether we put him in, in full contact because of a second sur- gery, I think that's still questionable. We may just want to ride right through the spring and have his first contact be in the fall." Kelly described Randolph's recovery as "excellent," including full contact work in the spring. Montelus was on the verge of contact work in December, but was withheld from it so he could be full go for the spring. • The defensive line depth took a huge hit last year with the absence of juniors Tony Springmann and Chase Hounshell. Springmann tore his ACL during an August practice, and an infection there- after led to a bit of a setback in his re- hab. During the 2013 spring, Hounshell suffered a torn labrum, which shelved him for the second year in a row, al- though he began practicing during the final month of the 2013 season (poten- tially he could apply for a sixth season of eligibility down the road). Hounshell is expected to be full go in the spring, but Springmann's contact work likely will be saved until August. "It's much better," Kelly said of Spring- mann's progress. "He's moving around quite well, and we will see where it moves, but we're hoping that we're going to get a lot out of him moving forward." Freshman cornerback Devin Butler tweeted in early January that he was having surgery, but Kelly said it wasn't anything complex that will keep him sidelined. Tweeting injury details also is verboten by Kelly. Inside linebacker Jarrett Grace will need more time to rehabil- itate his leg, which was broken in four places during a 37-34 victory versus Arizona State Oct. 5. PHOTO BY JOE RAYMOND