Notre Dame Linebacker JD Bertrand Is Out vs Central Michigan

Notre Dame will be without one of its captains when the Fighting Irish play their second home game of the season this Saturday. Irish head coach Marcus Freeman ruled JD Bertrand out for this weekend’s game against Central Michigan during his Thursday media call.

Bertrand remains in concussion protocol after leaving last Saturday’s win over North Carolina State in the second half. The fifth-year middle linebacker was the team’s leading tackler in 2021 and 2022 with a total of 184 tackles. He currently has the fourth most tackles this season with 13.

With Bertrand out this week, Freeman laid out what the plan will look like this Saturday against the Chippewas.

"Drayk Bowen is (in),” Freeman began. "Jaiden Ausberry will be. You look at JD Bertrand and when he’s out, yes, you lose a lot of production. He’s a really good football player but you lose a captain. You lose the leadership (and) the verbal communication of a confident guy that’s played a lot of snaps and that’s, to me, where I've challenged that room and Jack Kiser’s played a lot of ball. You’ve got to be so vocal to get guys lined up. You are...a lot of people call the linebackers the quarterback of the defense. So, what I’ve challenged those guys to do (is) not only step up with their play, but like the vocal leadership that we need, the communication to get guys lined up and to problem solve. Linebackers are problem solvers, and they have to be an extension of the coordinator to fix the problems on the field.

“So, you’ll see Jack Kiser, yes he’ll play, probably more,” Freeman continued. “Marist Liufau, he has to be more verbal in his communication. Jaylen Sneed will play more. Drayk Bowen will play, and Jaiden Ausberry will be the next guy to go in, too. So, as a collective group they have to make up for the production you lose in JD Bertrand. But each individual has been challenged to be more vocal in their communication amongst the defense.”

Kiser, Notre Dame’s No. 1 Rover, currently leads the Irish with 16 tackles through three games, but eight of those came against Navy’s triple option offense in the season opening. The Irish defense has used more nickel defense in the last two games against more traditional offense. Kiser had six tackles last week vs NC State. He played more in that game after Bertrand’s departure.

Bowen is a true freshman who has played against Navy and NC State. He forced his first career fumble last week vs the Wolfpack. He has one tackle so far. The sophomore Sneed had two tackles in his first career start against Navy. He has five total tackles and two quarterback hurries this season. Ausberry played against Navy and recorded his first three tackles against Tennessee State. He did not play last week against NC State.