NFL News NFL News, Reports and Updates
SOUTH BEND — Notre Dame football coach Marcus Freeman expressed faith Sunday in the evaluation process that allowed quarterback Riley Leonard to return for the second half of a 27-24 Orange Bowl win over Penn State.
Leonard, on two occasions in a postgame interview, described his condition as “a little wobbly” in the immediate aftermath of a big hit from 305-pound defensive lineman Dvon J-Thomas. A game official standing nearby stopped play after the back of Leonard’s helmet struck the turf as he fell backward.
In a media conference call, Freeman said there’s “nothing different” in College Football Playoff games from the regular-season protocol Notre Dame uses. The seventh-seeded Irish (14-1) advanced to face No. 8 seed Ohio State (13-2) on Jan. 20 in Atlanta for the national championship.
“We have a medical professional team of athletic trainers and doctors that will do a thorough evaluation of our players when they think they have a concussion,” Freeman said. “The health and safety of our players (is) more important than anything. I want to make sure that’s clear. They would never put a player at risk if they did not think he was physically ready to play in a game.”
Leonard, who completed 9 of 13 passes for 160 yards after his return, said after the Jan. 9 game that he “was very aware of how I felt” as he headed to the sideline for evaluation.
“I just had to prove that through our brain cognition tests,” Leonard said. “I got a little wobbly there for a second, but I knew whenever I was in the tent, I was all good, so there wasn’t (any) worry at all, no.”
Asked a second time in Thursday’s postgame about any “fear factor” regarding his ability to return safely to lead the comeback win, Leonard expounded on the process.
“I think our medical support team, first and foremost, did a…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/trust-doctors-notre-dame-football-174953372.html
Author : South Bend Tribune
Publish date : 2025-01-12 17:49:00
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
