What we saw: Observations from ND football's Monday practice

SOUTH BEND — The final week of media availability during Notre Dame football's fall camp kicked off Monday with a five-period observation session .

The No. 5 Irish appear to be kicking their preparations for their season opener at No. 2 Ohio State into high gear this week.

Here are some observations from Monday's practice session.

Injury News

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The big news out of Monday's practice was the absence of cornerback Cam Hart. Hart was not seen during the five-period media portion of Monday's session, which lasted roughly 30 minutes.

Offensive lineman Jarrett Patterson was still rolling around on a scooter into the Irish Athletic Center with a cast on his right leg and foot. Instead of taking mental reps near the rest of the lineman, Patterson worked through seating exercises, along with running back Jadarian Price and tight end Mitchell Evans away from team drills.

Wideouts Deion Colzie and Jayden Thomas were both full-go participants in positional drills, with Colzie still wearing a brace around his left leg.

Funky numbers

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Media members were slightly thrown off by some of Notre Dame players wearing new numbers, only to realize they coincide with many of Ohio State's star players.

Freshman quarterback Steve Angeli, who normally dons No. 18, wore No. 7 on Monday to represent Buckeyes quarterback C.J. Stroud.

Logan Diggs, normally No. 22, wore No. 3 for OSU's Miyan Williams. Chase Ketterer, normally No. 27, wore No. 32 for TreyVeyon Henderson. Multiple scout team wideouts wore No. 11 to represent star Ohio State wideout Jaxon Smith-Njigba.

Ryan Barnes, normally No. 15, wore No. 2 for Ohio State's Emeka Egbuka, a dangerous special teams player.

Freshman linebacker Jaylen Sneed, normally No. 17, wore No. 15 for safety Tanner McCalister and Justin Walters, normally No. 22, wore No. 14 for OSU's Ronnie Hickman.

New guardians

A handful of Notre Dame offensive lineman who were sidelined with injuries last week returned to practice on Monday with new gear.

Michael Carmody, Tosh Baker and Aamil Wagner, who all suffered concussions, were back in practice on Monday wearing the guardian safety pads on their helmets. They were the first offensive linemen to do that during camp.

Pat Coogan, who also was out with a concussion, was back in practice, but elected to not wear the guardian pads.

Caleb Johnson, another concussion victim, was still out of practice participation.