Fans of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish have waited a long time to see Kevin Austin back in uniform and out there with the offense — and now we may have to wait a bit longer. On Wednesday, Notre Dame announced that Austin had surgery to repair his left foot.
August 5 - Injury Update pic.twitter.com/PZY46YOeD2
— Notre Dame Football PR Team (@NDFootballPR) August 5, 2020
Typically, these type of injuries and surgeries require a 6-8 week recovery process to come back.
We still don’t know exactly how the 2020 schedule is going to shake out, but if the Irish are going to a good shot at taking out the Clemson Tigers — Kevin Austin is a guy that needs to be on the field. If the ACC still keeps the Notre Dame-Clemson game in November, we should have nothing to worry about as far as Austin’s health is concerned.
Austin is perhaps the most talented wide receiver on the roster and sat out all of 2019 with an undisclosed suspension. Keeping him in South Bend as opposed to losing him to the transfer portal was a big deal, and with the departure of Chase Claypool to the NFL, there has been a great deal of hope about what this talented kid from Florida will be able to do this season.
The Irish still have a deep and talented wide receiver corps, but there is not a lot of returning production. Javon McKinley is the leading returning receiver with 11 receptions for 268 yards and 4 touchdowns.