Will Notre Dame QB Riley Leonard play on Week 3 vs Purdue? Insider shares early outlook citing Trubisky and Mayfield
Notre Dame suffered an unexpected loss to Northern Illinois in week 2, and on top of that, there was an injury to quarterback Riley Leonard. However, Leonard stayed in the game and is expected to play in the matchup against Purdue this week.
It was a posterior labrum injury on his non-throwing shoulder. Had the injury happened to his throwing shoulder, he would have likely missed the game, but since it is not, he is expected to play against Purdue.
Greg McElroy recently gave his opinion about this situation on Thursday morning.
Greg McElroy explains why Riley Leonard can play with his injury
Football results in big injuries almost every week, so players need to find ways to play through them. Greg McElroy believes that is the case for Riley Leonard with the injury to his non-throwing shoulder. He said:
"Now, can you play with that injury? Yes, you can play. We have seen Mitch Trubisky play with an injury to his non-throwing shoulder. We have seen Baker Mayfield suffer partially-torn labrums and still finish the year."
While it is not ideal that Leonard is injured, McElroy believes it is not an impossible task to do. So as long as his throwing arm is fine and Leonard does not injure his other arm any further, there is no reason he cannot play.
That said, McElroy talked about the danger of playing through an injury in college football because Leonard will need to run the ball more. He said:
"Notre Dame with Leonard, though, let's just be honest - he's a dual threat. This is not the NFL. He's a dual-threat guy, so he's going to be asked to run the football. he's run for 1000 yards in his career. He's run for over 17 touchdowns in his career. He's played 20 games, and what he does best is keep people honest with his legs.
"Can you be effective putting your shoulder down if necessary when your labrum is not currently at 100%? That is something I'll be watching closely."
So, while McElroy is confident Leonard can play through the injury, he questions how effective he can be.
If he needs to run, he could easily make the injury worse to the point where he could no longer play through. That is something fans and experts will both look for when Notre Dame takes on Purdue on Saturday.