I don’t know exactly when this tradition began. At some point in recent years, Notre Dame has held an intra-squad scrimmage near the end of spring practice that has been branded as The Jersey Scrimmage. As the media has been shut out from most of spring practices in recent years–and the Blue-Gold Game simultaneous becomes less serious–it’s this Saturday morning scrimmage that has held a growing importance on the state of Notre Dame football before the summer arrives.

The media were in attendance for Saturday, and although they were able to view the scrimmage, they were only allowed to film the earlier positional drills.

With the caveat that there’s typically more rotation on defense this was a scrimmage between the first-teams on both sides of the ball. Freeman mentioned in his press conference on Saturday that they haven’t done a ton of 1’s vs. 1’s this spring.

Backup quarterback Blake Hebert tweaked his knee on Friday and didn’t participate in the scrimmage. A tough blow for Hebert who would’ve wanted as many reps as possible in this type of situation.

Interestingly, Freeman mentioned that quarterback Noah Grubbs has been receiving mostly 3rd-team reps this spring. The cynic in me believes they want Grubbs and Jarrard on as level of a playing field as possible this summer. However, this was a good opportunity to get a lot of scrimmage reps–and the reports were that Grubbs did some nice things. By the way, he’s listed at 209 on the roster but looks really lean to me. I would’ve randomly guessed he weighed 185 pounds to be honest.

It’s tough to remember CJ Carr isn’t a senior with a couple of years experience because expectations are so high. On Saturday, he shined brightly and looks fully in command of the offense. Freeman was quick to praise his understanding of the game and the offense. That jives with his performance in the jersey scrimmage where he repeatedly found the answers to questions the defense was giving him.

Interesting accessory decisions from Carr. 

Although the score was close and came down to a game-winning field goal attempt (more on this below) the media seemed awfully satisfied with the way the first-team offensive line looked.

Freeman said afterward that Anthonie Knapp has always been more natural at left guard. That combination of Knapp and Will Black at left tackle was under a lot of scrutiny and got lots of positive buzz.

Nolan James really seems to be generating more and more attention. His ability to make one cut and get a chunk of yards keep sticking out, and I’m pretty sure Freeman alluded to this on Saturday. He’s not speedy though, and it’s going to be a lot different to the situation in the backfield last year. That still makes me want to buy James stock, although reservedly as we’ll see how the snaps shake out when the backfield gets healthier closer to the season.

No surprise for the offense as Jordan Faison led the way as the top receiver on the day in terms of production.

Ohio State transfer Mylan Graham has been playing in slot but Freeman also mentioned he’s getting cross-training on the outside, too.

Jaden Greathouse did some positional work but didn’t play in the scrimmage.

The top receiver on the day not from the first team went to true Devin Fitzgerald who scored a pair of touchdowns. Expectations are tempered as most of this production was done against the bottom of the depth chart but it’s still a good sign for his development.

Jerome Bettis, Jr. sat out the proceedings while being in a walking boot on the sidelines. I haven’t read or seen anything updating the injury situation for the Irish receiver, though.

If you were waiting to see the tight ends getting involved in the pass game you’ll have to keep waiting. Cooper Flanagan was cited for being in two scuffles which continues a spring of being an ornery bastard on the field. I love it, but also I’d like to see some playmaking emerging from this group. To be fair, the physicality in run blocking has been noted as pretty solid from the tight ends so far.

Pitt defensive tackle transfer Francis Brewu missed some time with a bicep strain. He’s back now and was able to participate in the scrimmage on Saturday, though.

True freshman Rodney Dunham is squarely in the mix and is going to play in 2026. He continues to really impress, and this means more because defensive line has a ton of bodies to sort through so if he’s able to stand out now that bodes well for the future. Cam Reddish was making some noise at corner earlier in spring before an injury shut him down and now Dunham clearly leads all freshmen in expectations for this fall. Maybe receiver Bubba Frazier is in that mix, too.

Freeman typically doesn’t talk very specifically about players and I found it interesting that he mentioned nose guard Sean Sevillano dropping a lot of weight. The official roster lists him at 320 pounds, down 20 pounds from last year. Although, I’m pretty sure people have said he was closer to 360 pounds at some point earlier in his career.

With injuries, there’s a distinct lack of depth at linebacker. Still, I noticed Freeman mentioning that both Ausberry and Sneed are cross-training at Mike linebacker this spring. Will they actually ever play that position during the season? Probably not. It’s still nice to see them developing and coming a long way from the Rover days when they never played in the middle of the field.

Madden Faraimo (recovering from wrist surgery) participated in the Thud segments, but not the scrimmage. By the way, the media is now using Thud as a terminology a lot, it’s just the non-tackling portions of team work.

Another injury update. Cornerback Dallas Golden is out the rest of the spring with a lower back strain. Per Freeman’s comments, they don’t want to take any chance of it flaring back up again and will choose to rest him instead.

Christian Gray at nickel seems to be working out really well so far. I want to believe! Freeman seems very happy with Gray’s progress and acclimating to playing zone in the middle of the field.

Luke Talich might not be a starter but he could be considered a top 20 player on this roster. They have him playing a lot closer to the line of scrimmage in a hybrid role utilizing his length. He’s also the player that is coming on to the field in dime coverage. Talich picked off Grubbs in this role and returned it for a touchdown on Saturday.

The kicking job is getting well locked up by Purdue transfer Spencer Porath. He didn’t miss on Saturday (9 for 9) during practice work and in the scrimmage, including hitting the game-winning jersey scrimmage kick.

There were several comments about the big leg from Australian punter Jasper Scaife. Consistency is going to be key for him. Also, Scaife was the holder for the special teams unit.

Despite his injury situation, Jaden Greathouse was still part of the punt return team. Joining him were Mylan Graham and Aneyas Williams. So, only Graham is the fully healthy one from that bunch.