Notre Dame football injury update: Jason Onye undergoes minor spring surgery

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman announced two spring surgeries Wednesday morning, both stemming from injuries suffered in spring practice. But neither is expected to affect the Irish in the fall.

Sixth-year defensive tackle Jason Onye suffered a “small fracture” in his hand, according to Freeman. He underwent surgery and may miss the rest of spring practice, but Notre Dame isn’t sweating the returning starter’s availability.

“We put a pin in it,” Freeman said. “I don’t know if that keeps him out for spring, but it’s nothing that we’re overly concerned about. But he did have a fracture in his hand.”

Meanwhile, true freshman defensive back Nick Reddish suffered a torn labrum in his shoulder. He’ll have surgery tomorrow, and he’s expected to return in the coming months.

“We got to get that fixed and get him back for fall camp,” Freeman said.

As of now, Reddish is a likely redshirt candidate in an extremely crowded defensive back room. He projects as a nickel back for Notre Dame in the future. Onye is expected to be a key player for the Irish after an incredibly strong finish to his 2025 season, but again, Freeman isn’t worried about his status for the fall.

Aside from Onye and Reddish, Freeman explained, no new injuries have popped up in spring practice.

“Other than that, we’ve been pretty healthy,” Freeman said. “Just a couple minor things that happen when you practice football, but it’s been a pretty healthy spring ball.”

Update on pre-existing injury: Notre Dame exercising caution, but Jaden Greathouse making progress

Notre Dame entered spring practice with 18 pre-existing injuries, ranging from extremely minor to major surgeries that could affect the regular season. Freeman’s only real update on those during his Wednesday press conference concerned redshirt junior wide receiver Jaden Greathouse.

Greathouse tweaked his hamstring shortly before spring practice began, which limited him throughout March. But Freeman said he’s inching back toward his typical level of explosiveness and agility.

“Oh yeah,” Freeman said. “When he’s out there, man, you know why Jaden Greathouse has been a huge playmaker for our program.”

However, Freeman said Notre Dame has to “continue to be smart” with Greathouse, who missed the final eight games of 2025 with a hamstring injury. He also had hamstring problems as a true freshman in 2023.

More: ‘Dying to get out there’: Why banged-up Notre Dame WR Jaden Greathouse remains optimistic about 2026

“We can’t just go from zero to 100,” Freeman said. “And we all know that. he knows that. He wants to be out there every play, but we’ve gotta be smart with his progression back.”