Notre Dame wide receiver Avery Davis suffers ACL injury

On Friday practice, it was reported that Notre Dame Fighting Irish receiver Avery Davis had just suffered a ruptured right anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL, his second injury in less than a year.

The Fighting Irish presently have six receivers due to the absence of Davis, who is projected to miss the whole 2022 season.

Previously, Davis recovered faster than expected after tearing his left cruciate ligament in November of last year. During his time with the Irish, Davis has moved from quarterback to fullback before landing the wide receiver position.

Prior to his injury, he had four goals and 27 catches for 386 yards in his previous year of play. Throughout his career, he scored eight touchdowns and caught 66 passes for 862 yards.

Davis was also named captain of the Fighting Irish last season, so Notre Dame is losing an experienced leader.

In addition, Davis is said to have gotten the chance to play in the 2022 season because he waived his 2020 pandemic universal eligibility.

Davis never saw his passion in this role as a three-star quarterback at Notre Dame, so he sought for a way to help the team especially considering he's been trapped behind players like Brandon Wimbush, Jan Book, and Phil Yurkovets.

“I would be lying if I sat here and told you that there was sunshine and rainbows all the time,” Davis made a statement in March 2021.

Davis also acknowledged playing for numerous positions and being unable to focus on a certain assignment due to his anxiety.

“I will? It was a moment when I played in autumn and spring in completely different positions. In terms of comfort, you really can’t really quickly tune in and focus on a particular task and grow into it because it’s such an anxiety, such a lot of uncertainty.”

However, his junior season in 2020, when he managed to record two of the largest catches of the Notre Dame pandemic, tells a different picture.

Davis earns Rees' respect

In a statement last week, Tommy Rees said that Davis has made a decision to stay here after several injuries, thus earning Rees' respect.

“He’s injured, he’s back, ready to go after his teammates, making the selfless decision to stay here," Rees said.

"We had a lot of guys who earned respect over my last five and a half years here, (but) he could have earned the same respect as any player in that dressing room that I saw. It’s a testament to his character and who he is.”

Davis has been a member of the Notre Dame team for six years, and has appeared in several crucial games, according to Rees.

“He’s been here for six years, he’s played five positions,” Rees said. “He played at absolutely critical moments a few times.”

Following Davis's injury, Notre Dame will only send Braden Lenzy, Lorenzo Stiles, Deion Colzie, Jayden Thomas, Tobias Merriweather, and Matt Salerno as scholarship receivers to work at Ohio State in three weeks.

With Davis out due to injury, only two returning wide receivers, Lenzy (the only one with starting experience) and Styles, have caught more than 20 passes this season.