Marcus Freeman's Notre Dame receives major boost after QB CJ Carr's injury update

CJ Carr is set to participate in the Notre Dame Fighting Irish spring training camp. The quarterback has been dealing with an elbow injury he suffered last season that kept him out of rotation as a backup player.

On Thursday, On3's Tyler Horka reported that Fighting Irish's athletic trainer, Rob Hunt, shared that Carr has fully recovered on X (formerly Twitter).

"Notre Dame athletic trainer Rob Hunt says quarterback CJ Carr will be a full participant in Fighting Irish spring practices after dealing with an elbow injury for much of last fall. He's completely recovered. Big news for the redshirt freshman going into a QB competition.," Horka tweeted.

Notre Dame finished the 2024 season with a 14-2 record, led by quarterback Riley Leonard. He completed 269 passes for 2,861 yards and 21 touchdowns in his senior year. Leonard led the team to victories against the Indiana Hoosiers, Georgia Bulldogs, and Penn State Nittany Lions in the College Football Playoff.

On Jan. 20, the Fighting Irish ended their successful year with a 34-23 loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes in the College Football Playoff National Championship. Leonard had 22 of 31 completed passes for 255 yards and two touchdowns. He also had 17 carries for 40 yards and one touchdown.

Coach Marcus Freeman is looking to get the team back into the tournament for the upcoming season. He'll be without Leonard, who will enter the 2025 NFL draft. Hunt's update that Carr has recovered from his elbow injury comes as the team looks for the next starting quarterback.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback options for the 2025 season

Carr fully participating in spring training will allow Freeman to decide who will be the best candidate to replace Leonard. The freshman may assume the role if he remains healthy and performs well during practices. However, he has competition with Steve Angeli as a potential option to lead the program next season.

Angeli played the backup role for Leonard and played in several games. In his junior year, he completed 24 passes for 268 yards and three touchdowns. One of his best performances was in the team's dominant 66-7 win against the Purdue Boilermakers on Sep. 14.

Angeli finished the matchup with six of nine completed passes for 100 yards and one touchdown. His experience in college football could give him the edge to start over Carr.

Both players will hope to prove themselves as Freeman aims to take Notre Dame back to a national title game.