Notre Dame loses DJ McKinney for Miami and beyond

Freeman broke the news on his Thursday Zoom, and the beat writers had it out within minutes.

Jack Soble

@jacksoble56

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman said starting cornerback DJ McKinney will miss "an extended period of football" with the ankle injury he suffered at BYU. That confirms he'll miss Nov. 7 vs. Miami. Jayden Sanders will start for the foreseeable future.

This was already trending the wrong way. McKinney, the Colorado transfer who has started at corner for the Irish, limped to the sideline late in the loss at BYU on Oct. 17 after playing 47 defensive snaps. A bye week wasn't enough to fix it, and Notre Dame had already ruled him out for Saturday's noon game against Navy in Foxborough. Now we know it isn't a 1-week thing. Freeman's words were "an extended period of football," and that's the language a coach uses when he's preparing everyone for a long one.

Adam Rittenberg

@ESPNRittenberg

Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said cornerback DJ McKinney (right ankle) will miss "an extended period of football." Freeman thinks McKinney will return at some point this season, but won't be soon.

The piece of good news is that Freeman isn't treating it as season-ending. Multiple reporters on the call came away with the same read: McKinney is expected back at some point this year, just not soon. That changes the math on the whole thing.

Pete Sampson

@PeteSampson_

Marcus Freeman says DJ McKinney will miss an extended amount of time, i.e. he's out for Miami. Sounds like a return for the College Football Playoff would be possible, at least.

That's the real storyline. Notre Dame doesn't need McKinney in November nearly as much as it needs him in December and January. If the Irish can get through the regular season without him and still get into the bracket, they'd have a starting corner coming back right when the stakes are highest. That's a big if, and Miami on Nov. 7 is the game that decides a lot of it.

So it's Jayden Sanders' job now. The Michigan transfer had been battling McKinney for that field corner spot since camp, and he already has the big moment: on just 18 defensive snaps at BYU, he picked off Bear Bachmeier in the 4th quarter, 1 play after McKinney limped off. Navy's option offense won't test him much through the air. Miami will.

BlueandGold.com

@BGInews

Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said CB DJ McKinney will miss an “extended period” of time with an ankle injury but expects him to play again this season. “He’ll be out for quite a while.” t.co/PViKSADEQn

"He'll be out for quite a while" is not what you want to hear 9 days before the biggest game left on the schedule. Navy is a tune-up for Sanders, then he faces a Miami passing game with playoff seeding on the line. If he holds up, Notre Dame just has to keep winning until McKinney is healthy. If he doesn't, the Irish will be relying on that playoff return instead of having it as a bonus.