Marcus Freeman Gives Injury Update On Drayk Bowen and Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa

Bowen and Viliamu-Asa were two of Notre Dame's most important defenders in 2025.

Notre Dame linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa celebrates after getting a stop against Texas A&M at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025, in South Bend. | MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Roster retention can equal or surpass the value of transfer portal additions in some cases, and that's what Notre Dame is getting with the return of veteran linebackers Drayk Bowen and Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa.

However, there is some uncertainty regarding their availability for spring practice and potentially the 2026 season.

Injury update on key Notre Dame defenders

Notre Dame linebacker Drayk Bowen lines up against Southern California at Notre Dame Stadium. | MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Bowen started all 12 games for Notre Dame in 2025, but he recently underwent surgery to address a torn labrum in his hip, as first reported by Irish Sports Daily. Despite playing through the injury, he led Notre Dame with 67 tackles, and added 4.5 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, four pass breakups and two quarterback hurries.

Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman gave an update Wednesday on the 6-foot-2, 235-pound senior linebacker from St. John, Ind.

"[Bowen] will be back at some point during the spring doing some type of activity," Freeman said. "I don't know if he'll be full go for the spring, but it was more of a clean up of his hip, labrum. But he'll be back obviously for some portion of spring in some capacity."

As for Viliamu-Asa, who suffered a torn ACL on Nov. 22 against Syracuse, Freeman suggested he'll be sidelined a bit longer than Bowen.

"I expect [Viliamu-Asa] to be back some time in the fall, right. I don't know exactly where," Freeman said. "Every ACL is different. ... But he will be back in the fall, and we expect him for the start –– somewhere around the start of the season to be full go, right. And so, he's doing really, really well in his rehab and recovery process."

Viliamu-Asa played in 11 games as a sophomore in 2025 and led the Irish with 7.5 tackles for loss. The 6-foot-3, 230-pound linebacker from Inland Empire, Calif. also added 48 tackles, three sacks, one interception, two pass breakups, five quarterback hurries and a fumble recovery.

If he were to miss any time at the beginning of the season, Notre Dame is still in good shape with key 2025 contributors Jaylen Sneed and Jaiden Ausberry returning at linebacker. Reserve linebackers Madden Faraimo, Kahanu Kia, Ko'o Kia, Teddy Rezac, Tommy Powlus and Jerry Rullo are also set to return, while Bodie Kahoun and Anthony Sacca are two of the program's 14 outgoing transfers.

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