Notre Dame QB Brandon Wimbush day-to-day with foot injury
Notre Dame junior quarterback Brandon Wimbush is day-to-day with a right foot injury sustained in last weekend's victory over Miami (Ohio), head coach Brian Kelly confirmed on Tuesday.
Wimbush "experienced some foot soreness after the game, so we put him in a walking boot, which is fairly typical," Kelly said Tuesday. He added that an MRI came back clean and there is no structural damage.
Kelly said that he trusts Wimbush, who told him the foot was injured during the Miami game, not after.
"He went out (on Saturday night) and felt his foot was not right and went home," Kelly said.
Kelly added that the plan is to get Wimbush moving and throwing on Monday, but there is no rush for him to practice fully. He could also miss Tuesday's practice and still play.
In his first season as Notre Dame’s starting quarterback, Wimbush — a 6-foot-2, 228-pound junior — has passed for 782 yards with six touchdowns and two interceptions, completing 52.3 percent of his passes.
The Teaneck, N.J., native has also rushed for 402 yards and eight touchdowns, just two scores shy of Notre Dame’s single season quarterback rushing touchdown record.
After appearing in two games in his freshman season, Wimbush did not play in 2016.
Sophomore quarterback Ian Book — who may earn his first career start on Saturday — also redshirted the 2016 season. The 6-foot, 208-pound El Dorado Hills, Calif., native has made four appearances in mop-up duty this season, completing 3 of 8 passes for 51 yards and adding 40 rushing yards.
In his senior season at Oak Ridge High School in 2015, Book — a consensus three-star prospect — passed for 3,049 yards with 30 touchdowns and five interceptions, completing 70.5 percent of his passes. He also rushed for 779 yards and 12 more scores.
After traveling to Chapel Hill, NC, to meet North Carolina on Saturday, Notre Dame will enjoy a bye week before hosting No. 14 USC (4-1) on Oct. 21.
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Here are some more quick hits from Kelly’s Tuesday press conference.
-- Kelly noted that despite North Carolina's 1-4 record, the Tar Heels have led going into the fourth quarter in four of five games. "We'll have to play up to our standards that we've set," Kelly said.
-- Kelly said that he had his captains take a personality trait test to understand what their strengths were and how they could best develop their leadership.
-- Kelly said he's more focused on the fact that Wimbush has the traits to succeed than any struggles he has had in the passing game thus far. "We have a winner that's at that position," Kelly said.
Kelly added, on his message when Wimbush struggles: "I was a pretty bad coach last year, and people stuck with me. We're sticking with you."