Notre Dame just wrapped up it's final major practice before we get to see them back inside of Notre Dame Stadium for the annual Blue Gold game which will take place on Saturday April 25. There were a lot of takeaways from today's scrimmage and we got to see a good amount of action during the open practice availability this morning. There were some wins by the offense, some wins by the defense and it was certainly competitive. After, head coach Marcus Freeman talked about some of his takeaways from this morning's jersey scrimmage.
You can watch the entire press conference here:
Here are some of the main topics Freeman discussed in today's post-practice press conference:
Freeman On If Devin Fitzgerald Can Be A Playmaker For The Offense
"You evaluate it every day," Freeman explained. "I don't care if it's against the threes, the twos or the ones. When you master what you have right in front of you, you'll get more. I don't care if it was against the third team. He made some big plays today. He'll continue to be put in elevated positions to continue to show what he can do against better competition. He's had a good spring and he's made big plays like that throughout the spring. Today I wasn't surprised. He'll continue to get better, and he's getting better, but he's doing a really good job."
Freeman On The Performance Of The Offensive Line
"I think the entire offensive line as a whole, that first group, has done a really good job of gelling together," Freeman shared. "Today is a day you go live and you can see if we can run the ball or not. You know, when you go thud, you blow the whistle when you think they're going to go down. We were able to run the ball today. That left side has done a great job. Anthonie Knapp, the transition from tackle into guard has been a smooth transition.
"I'm not surprised because he's an athletic guy; he's a tough guy," Freeman continued. "We've always thought that was his more natural position, but he had to play left tackle for us, and he's done a tremendous job. Will Black, the growth from year one to where he's at now has been tremendous. He's had high upside the whole time since we recruited him until he got here. But now he's really developing that into a unique skill set."
Freeman On The Increased Size Of The Defensive Line
"I've seen it and I've felt it," Freeman stated. "We've brought in some massive human beings at those positions, but they play big, too. They're not big guys that play soft. They play big and they're physical. Francis Brewu was out for a couple of practices with a bicep strain, but it was good to see him back. Tionne Gray, he's a big human being and I watched one play that he made. It was a great double team and he just split it. They're all doing really, really well. I'm glad we have them, and they're making us better."
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