Nick Watkins Out For The Rest Of The Spring After Undergoing Surgery

Junior cornerback Nick Watkins will miss the remainder of spring practice after undergoing successful surgery on a fractured left humerus Saturday evening, the program announced.

Watkins made his first career start in the 44-28 loss to Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 1 and is competing for one of Notre Dame's two starting cornerback jobs.

The DeSoto, Texas, native suffered the injury during practice Saturday morning. He is expected to return to the field for summer workouts.

“I failed myself if I'm not starting against Texas," Watkins told reporters Friday.

In his first two seasons at Notre Dame, Watkins appeared in 23 games, primarily on special teams. He recorded eight tackles and one pass deflection in 2015.

"Watkins, his first start against Ohio State, which is kind of tough first start in the Fiesta Bowl, but he's done an unbelievable job of really pushing himself to try and get his game to the next level," defensive backs coach Todd Lyght said Wednesday.