Jarrett Patterson injury leaves four-year Notre Dame offensive line starter ‘questionable’ to face Ohio State

Notre Dame entered this offseason with two returning captains, but the No. 5 Irish may be without them both at Ohio State on Sept. 3. Fifth-year left guard Jarrett Patterson suffered a foot sprain on Monday, per head coach Marcus Freeman, and is now considered questionable to face the No. 2 Buckeyes.

“Right now we’re being cautious with his return,” Freeman said Thursday. “We have to rest it. We think for him, it’s going to be once we get through about a 10-day period of resting, it will be as he can go tolerate the pain.”

That prognosis for Patterson is obviously far better than the season-ending one for sixth-year receiver Avery Davis announced last weekend, but even a 10-day rest will take Patterson to just eight days before the season opener. Freeman offered optimism, but given he currently suggests multiple Notre Dame players that were expected to miss that game and are still limited in practices will instead likely play — namely, sophomore running back Logan Diggs (labrum injured in mid-April) and fifth-year receiver Joe Wilkins (LisFranc injury in March) — Freeman’s publicly-stated injury timelines should be taken with a grain of salt for the time being.

“I know his mentality,” Freeman said. “As a head coach, I expect [Patterson] to probably be out there because I know the type of competitor he is.”

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With Patterson sidelined, the Irish turned to senior Andrew Kristofic and sophomore Rocco Spindler in a scrimmage on Thursday. Kristofic started at left guard in the final seven games last season before being dropped to the second string this preseason when Patterson moved over to left guard to make room for senior Zeke Correll at center. (Context: Patterson