Jadarian Price Is Working His Way Back To Good Health
A year ago at this time the expectations for then freshman running back Jadarian Price were sky high. Price’s play was the talk of Notre Dame’s spring practice. His highlights and biceps showed up in social media snippets and it looked like, even as a freshman, Price could be the heir apparent to Kyren Williams in the Irish backfield in 2022.
"I didn't know the impact I made really until after the spring game when people realized taking a look back at the spring, how well I did,” Price said of his first spring. "I didn't know I did that well and caught that many eyes and attention.”
The praise for Price only grew louder after the Blue-Gold game when the Denison, Texas native had 17 total touches for the Gold offense. His nine carries were mostly forgettable as the offenses largely sputtered, but his receiving skills popped.
Price turned in the highlight of the day when he took a screen pass 51 yards for a touchdown. It was the cherry on top of an eight-catch, 104 receiving performance that allowed him to lead all players with 116 yards from scrimmage in the game.
"After the spring game and the amount of touches I got after Chris Tyree was limited, I knew that it was my time to show this team knows what I could do and let's show everyone else what I could do,” Price explained. "Show people back home what I could do. That was a big thing for me just realizing this is meant for me and I can do this.
"I knew there would be a little attention towards me and maybe I'd get not a ton of game time, but a couple reps in a game,” he continued. "Just knowing the amount of time I spent and reps I got in the spring and then all of a sudden, it just ended, (it) was a little devastating.”
The devastation came in the form of a torn Achilles tendon during summer workouts last June. After a routine day of agility drills, he and the running backs were doing some extra footwork and then ...
Pop.
"Instantly I knew,” Price said of the tear of his left Achilles. "It was one of those things I think the D-linemen on the opposite field heard it. It was loud. I knew instantly. I tried to get up, but I couldn't walk, so I knew instantly.”
It’s been nearly 10 months since the injury that ended Price’s season before it ever began. Ten long months of rehab and incremental progress as he works his way back to being in the fold in the backfield this fall.
Price just began running about two weeks ago. He’ll put the cleats on and run one day and then take a day off. No sense pushing it too hard, too fast now with fall training camp still four months away.
"As of right now, I'm just doing as much as I can individual-wise and FSA, which is our stretch warmup period before practice,” Price described. "Just doing as much as I can in those periods. After that, I usually take a step off and not do much. It's more of me coming back 100 percent this summer. That's more of the target time right now - getting ready to go in fall camp. That's the biggest goal for me.
"The toughest part is knowing it's a long journey,” Price continued. "It's not under six months. It's over six months. Just knowing it's over half a year for me to be able to get back on the field, it wasn't a good thing. Knowing I had people around me to support me and things like that - this is a great team and it's a brotherhood and we all support each other. I'm really grateful for that."
A healthy Price would give the Fighting Irish another dynamic back after Audric Estime and Logan Diggs each had breakout seasons last fall. Estime led the Irish with 920 yards and 11 touchdown and Diggs was right behind him with 821 yards and four scores. The duo combined for 2,088 yards of offense and 18 touchdowns.
There is more potential opportunity for Price as well after Tyree (582 yards of offense) moved to wide receiver this spring. Price isn’t setting his sights too far in the future though, as he continues his comeback.
"Right now, I'm just focused on getting back to 100 percent healthy,” Price began. "When that time comes, I know I'll be ready. I'm sure there might be a couple nervous jitters or whatnot. That's how everyone is before they line up for the first play. When fall camp comes around, everyone will be in the same boat. They haven't put on pads in a couple months, so that will be good for me being around people who haven't been hit in a while. I think it'll make me feel more comfortable. That first play, I'll for sure be ready that first fall camp practice."
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