'No problem at all': Notre Dame football QB Riley Leonard gives update on surgical ankle
SOUTH BEND — Two weeks removed from a TightRope procedure on his right ankle, Duke transfer quarterback Riley Leonard bopped into the indoor practice facility for his first meeting with Notre Dame football media.
“I feel great,” the rising senior said Friday afternoon. “I’m bouncing around. Obviously, no boot, nothing. You probably wouldn’t even realize I got surgery. I think some people say it’s more stable than it was before, so we’ll see.”
Former Notre Dame wideout Chase Claypool returned in eight weeks from a summer TightRope procedure to have his best season in 2019. Rather than use a rigid surgical screw, the TightRope system anchors the tibia and fibula with a braided polyethylene cord.
Leonard, who originally suffered the high ankle sprain in the final minute of a 21-14 loss to Notre Dame on Sept. 30, seemed amused by the news coverage when his surgery became known on Tuesday.
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“It wasn’t really a secret,” Leonard said. “I tell people all the time. I was riding around campus in my electric wheelchair thing, just scooting around. I was embracing it. You know, ‘What’s up?’ No problem at all.”
Leonard, who had season-ending toe surgery on his left foot after being injured at Louisville on Oct. 28, underwent an exam during his official visit to Notre Dame after entering the transfer portal. The decision was made at that time to hold off on surgery.
“I think we all just decided to wait, see if it could heal up, and then we got here and it was like, ‘Ugh,’ “ he said. “We could risk it and play. It ended up healing pretty well. We could risk it and play in the spring and maybe in the fall and have no problems, but there was a risk of reinjuring it because it was a little loose. That’s what they said.”
Leonard credited head athletic trainer Rob Hunt and his staff with guiding him throughout the process.
“We were just like, let’s get it done now,” Leonard said. “Obviously, I’ve been out for three months because of my toe, but it’s still January and it’s still early. We’re like, knock it out before six to eight weeks, whatever it is. Might as well do it.”
The official start date of spring practice has yet to be announced, but a mid-March start makes sense with the Blue-Gold Game set for April 20.
In the meantime, Leonard joked, All-America defensive tackle Howard Cross III owes him dinner. It was Cross who delivered the game-clinching strip sack that night at Wallace Wade Stadium.
“I told him there’s a Ruth’s Chris like right down the street,” Leonard said. “Yeah, that was a lot of weight on my ankle.”
Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for NDInsider.com and is on social media @MikeBerardino.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Notre Dame football QB Riley Leonard healing after ankle surgery
