Notre Dame made it through fall camp, but Quincy Porter is still stuck on the wrong side of the finish line.
With the Fighting Irish turning their attention to Wisconsin and the Week 1 wide receiver picture still unsettled, Porter is one name the coaches know they cannot pencil into the opening plan. The former 5-star transfer is still working back from surgery on his left patellar tendon in January, and Marcus Freeman said Friday that Porter needed another procedure as Notre Dame tries to speed up his return.
Freeman didn’t offer a clean timeline, only a vague one that leaves more room for uncertainty than clarity.
“He's still a couple of weeks out, and he's getting better,” Freeman stated. “…He's still got a little bit of time to be in a position where we feel like he can help this team.
It'll happen. It's going to happen here soon.
I just don't know when it's going to be.”
That update doesn’t exactly match the expectations Notre Dame had back in the spring. On March 18, head athletic trainer Rob Hunt said Porter would miss spring practice, which he did, but also projected him to be ready for a “full summer of activity.” Instead, Porter is still at least a couple of weeks away from that point, and the recovery arc has taken another turn.
The staff, for now, is keeping the message upbeat. Wide receivers coach Mike Brown said last week that Porter’s work has shown he can eventually be worth the wait.
“We’ll take it day by day,” Brown told the assembled media during his time at the mic. “He’s doing a great job with the things we’re asking.
He’s moving around, he’s looking good. We’ll continue to take it one day at a time.”
There is at least some cushion here. Notre Dame never treated Porter as a lock to be an immediate 2026 difference-maker, especially after he missed time with Ohio State in 2025 because of injury. He finished that season with 4 catches for 59 yards across 3 games, and if his leg issue drags on and keeps him out for most of this year, he still has three years of eligibility left.
Meanwhile, the receiver room has not sat still. Walk-on lacrosse player Matt Jeffery has been one of the biggest winners from Porter’s absence, drawing strong praise from the coaches after missing spring practice to focus on his other sport.
For now, Notre Dame is hoping Porter’s “couple of weeks” really means a couple of weeks. That would give him a chance to return as the schedule gets tougher. Whether that’s how this plays out is still anybody’s guess.
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