OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. -- Brian Kelly will not know the status of injured linebacker Jarrett Grace for another week, as the Notre Dame coach said he will meet with the Irish's training staff next Thursday.
Kelly said he is hopeful that Grace's right leg will be further stabilized after the redshirt junior underwent a second surgery on March 28 to insert a rod into the leg. There had been an estimated six-week timetable following that surgery to measure Grace's progress, as he is recovering from a broken tibia and fibula suffered during an Oct. 5 win over Arizona State.
If all of the healing comes back clean, Grace is expected to be ready this fall, which would provide the Irish linebacker corps a big boost inside. Grace, a Cincinnati native, had a team-best 41 tackles last season before suffering the injury.
Kelly also said that safety Nicky Baratti had suffered a dislocated right shoulder during last month's Blue-Gold spring game but would not need surgery. Baratti had missed all of last season after suffering a more serious shoulder dislocation during fall camp, that time in his left shoulder.
"There are different grades of dislocation. It wasn't one that needed to be surgically repaired," Kelly said of Baratti's most recent injury. "He will play like Bennett Jackson played the year before. He'll play with a harness, and we'll see where that goes."
