Wrapping up today's media session at Notre Dame Stadium:

--- Brian Kelly is inching closer to making a decision on who will start at quarterback against Navy.

"I think we're getting closer to that," Kelly said. "It's not going to be a 50-50 proposition. We're moving closer towards that as we move into actually working against Navy. I think probably Monday, we sit down and talk about how the reps are going to be distributed. But there's still so much learning, so it wouldn't be as cut and dry as say, 'Here's my No. 1.' The door will still be open for growth during that week, but we'll start to separate the reps a little bit."

But he might not tell anyone outside of the team. With no more open practices, he doesn't really have to.

"I have not thought about it in those terms, in terms of making a public announcement about the quarterback position because I've never had it in my mind that we were going to get there at a certain time," he said. "If it's clear to me that we've got a No. 1 and there's a great separation there, then there's a possibility I could announce it. But I have not thought about it in those terms."

--- Reserve tackle Tate Nichols has a patella subluxation in his knee. Kelly said Nichols had it happen before, and missed two or three weeks. So his status for Navy is uncertain, at best.

--- Linebacker Danny Spond's mystery injury turned out to be a migraine.

"He had a migraine that was so severe that it required hospitalization," Kelly said. "He's seen specialists, the best in the country. He's been through a battery of tests. Now it's just a matter of getting him reacclimated. He's been cleared, now it's just a matter of when can he get back out there and start contact and those things. We really don't have a timetable for that."

--- Safety Jamoris Slaughter sat out practice with a bruised heel. Kelly said it was just precautionary. His absence allowed sophomore Matthias Farley to shine, as he has for much of camp. Farley is threatening to take senior Dan McCarthy's spot as the third safety.

"Farley has done very, very well," Kelly said. I think he's changed the dynamics back there. I know I had spoke that McCarthy had that position locked up. Well, it's a battle now. Farley has really been impressive the last 10 days or so."

--- Nose guard Kona Schwenke has a "cracked" knuckle and practiced with what Kelly called a "lollipop cast" on Thursday. Kelly said the cast will shrink for the Navy game, and that Schwenke is not going to be limited by it.

Chuck Martin was Notre Dame's secondary coach the past two seasons. Now that he's an offensive coordinator, he's bringing an interesting perspective to his offensive players, giving them an idea of what it's like on the other side of the ball.

"Defense, and being successful on defense, is completely different," Martin said. "Defense is about disruption. They're trying to do everything they can to disrupt you from timing to your schemes. I would say defense is like a rock concert. The louder, the crazier, the more jumping, hooting and hollering, the better the defense is. And offense is like an orchestra. You need 11 pieces not only doing their job, but they have to do it at the right time. It's not good enough to run the dig route right, you have to do it at the right depth and the quarterback has to take the right drop. He can't take a five-step drop instead of a three-step drop because the timing's off. He took a good drop and made a good throw, and you ran a good route, but it's still not going to work because our timing's off. On defense, if Louis Nix throws the center out the way and runs up the field, the corner could fall down and there'd be a guy wide open, but you sack the guy. That's just defense."

And if you couldn't tell by that, yes, Martin admitted that anyone who knows him knows he prefers being on the defensive side of the ball. 

"That's where my roots are," he said.

For those fans who are desperately waiting to find out who Notre Dame's starting quarterback will be against Navy in Ireland, Brian Kelly has a message for you.

"I think this is going to require all the 29 practice opportunities we have," the Irish coach said Saturday. "I would not be holding your breath for an announcement anytime soon."

Kelly said he's still installing the offense -- "we just put the quarterback sneak in today," he said -- so it's too early to get a full evaluation on the race between Everett Golson and Andrew Hendrix.

That said, Kelly said he's been encouraged by both the progress his quarterbacks have made so far in training camp.

"I don't have a better idea as to who the starter is, but I can tell you that Andrew and Everett have begun to display the skills necessary -- not just physical skills, but the mental skills necessary -- to be the starter," Kelly said.

For Golson, that means showing better poise in the pocket, and not looking to run at the first sign of pressure. For Hendrix, that means protecting himself out there and checking down to the best option on each play.

"Now, it's honing those and building on what we did this past week," Kelly said.

As for freshman Gunner Kiel, the nation's top QB recruit has been working with the third team and has been getting significantly fewer reps than Golson and Hendrix. Like any freshman, even an early enrollee, there's still a lot of learning to do. But Kelly had high praise for Kiel.

"He continues to do really good things," Kelly said. "He's got to catch up with the knowledge bae of the other two kids, but
physically he has all the skills. If I didn't have those other two kids, I would not be afraid of playing Gunner Kiel. He's got all the
intangibles you're looking for."

Tommy Rees hasn't take a meaningful snap pretty much all camp, as Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly chooses between Everett Golson, Andrew Hendrix and Gunner Kiel for the season-opener against Navy in Ireland -- a game for which Rees is suspended following his arrest in May.

"I feel I have a pretty good understanding of the offense," Rees said on Saturday in his first public comments since the suspension was handed down. "I'll be prepared when my name's called."

Both Rees and linebacker Carlo Calabrese -- also suspended for Navy following his arrest that same night -- said all the right things.

"It's tough, but I accept the punishment," Rees said. "I'm out there trying to help the other guys."

Said Calabrese: "I learned a lot from it and Coach Kelly made a decision, I respect that. I put myself in a bad situation and he had to do what he had to do. I respect that. It's already done, I've moved on from that. I'm just working harder and harder every day."

Calabrese's job at inside linebacker is relatively secure for when he returns against Purdue. Rees will have an uphill climb when he starts getting reps again during the Purdue week. But he doesn't think he's done as Notre Dame's quarterback.

"Not really," he said. "I think one of the biggest things is having confidence in yourself. If you're insecure and worried about things like that, it could be hard. But I try to carry myself with confidence, I know I can play this game I know I can help us win games."

Rees said leaving school was never an option.

"To be honest, that idea never really crossed my mind," he said. "I love being here, I love being part of this team."

Both players thanked their teammates and coaches for supporting them.

"It's been tough, but the team's great, they're great people to lean on," Calabrese said. "Not just on the defensive side, not just at my position. I can lean on anybody on the offensive side, too. They've been helping me through this. We're all tight, that's helping me out."

Some noteworthy items from today's Notre Dame practice, in case you weren't following me on Twitter (@MarkLazerus) during the morning:

-- Sophomore tackle Jordan Prestwood. listed as No. 2 on the depth chart, is no longer on the team. "Jordan is no longer with us. I'm not able to get into the specifics about that because of privacy laws," Brian Kelly said.

-- Junior tailback Cam Roberson (knee) was not physically able to compete in practice, and will pursue a medical redshirt.

-- Junior outside linebacker Danny Spond, an expected starter, suffered what Kelly said appeared to be a concussion and had to leave Wednesday's practice. Spond dealt with a serious concussion when he played at Columbine High School in Colorado.

-- Tight end Alex Welch was helped off the field after suffering an apparent knee injury toward the end of 11-on-11s at the end of practice. Kelly had no update on him.

-- Freshman safety Elijah Shumate has been moved to cornerback to bolster depth at that position.

-- Cierre Wood got some time on the punt return team. "I know he wanted to give it a shot," Kelly said. "So we're going to put him back there and see what he can do. We're going to look at as many guys as we can right now and then whittle it down in a couple of weeks."

Today was the first day of full pads at Notre Dame training camp, and freshman quarterback Gunner Kiel was "live" during practice-ending 11-on-11 drills. Even as a freshman, he knew what that meant. 

Notre Dame wideout John Goodman says 7-on-7 drills isn't "real football." So he's perfectly happy to see Brian Kelly go with more 11-on-11 sessions during training camp, which began Saturday in South Bend.

our defense is going to be able to get more of the depth work. On one side of the ball it helps our offense and the needs of the inexperienced, and on the other side it's really helping our defense build the depth."

Notre Dame's first practice of training camp began at 9 a.m. central time today, and the media was allowed in to watch the first half hour of so. That means it's time to jump to ridiculous conclusions based on precious ittle information. A favorite pastime of sportswriters and sports fans alike.

Brian Kelly is quite comfortable as he enters his third year as Notre Dame's head coach. He expects his players are, too. There's no more adapting to his style of coaching and his style of play. He can only hope that will translate to more success on the field.