Jaylen Sneed says spring game performance 'helps a lot'

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish wrapped up their spring practice with their spring Blue-Gold game on Saturday. This gave head coach Marcus Freeman the opportunity to see how his team would perform in game-like scenarios with a little bit more pressure than your usual practice. One of the players that took advantage of this opportunity is second-year linebacker Jaylen Sneed. After an impressive performance in Notre Dame’s Blue-Gold game, the redshirt freshman revealed what a performance like that does for his confidence going forward.

“It definitely helps a lot; just knowing that me and my linebacker crew had a great day. We got to tackle a lot of people, play a lot of football. Just great for like experience,” said Sneed in the post-game press conference.

Last season the Fighting Irish linebacker saw action in four games during the season, showcasing there’s a small sample size of what he could do when given the opportunity. In those four games, Sneed recorded seven total tackles, one solo, and went half on a tackle for loss.

Sneed was not the only player on the Fighting Irish defense to take advantage of the spotlight courtesy of the spring game. Defensive lineman Jason Onye also impressed; continuing his impressive track of growth and development this offseason. And that was more than enough to earn high praise from defensive line coach Al Washington following the spring game.

Notre Dame D-line coach Al Washington on Onye’s production

“A year ago, where he was to now, he’s taken off. And really credited him because I think there was a point where he really could have gone the other way. He could have pulled away, (or) made excuses,” said Washington.

“I remember like it was yesterday; it was in the fall. He had a moment. He wasn’t happy (that) he wasn’t playing. And you know, we get those conversations. But he made a decision, and to his credit, he stuck to it, and now he’s kind of breaking through. He still has a lot to work on; he’d be the first to tell you. But the thing about Jason that’s redeeming is he loves football. That is what makes him special on top of the talent; his love helped him endure all those tough moments.”

The soon-to-be sophomore from North Providence, RI, saw action in just one game last season. That was a 44-0 route of Boston College towards the end of this season. Onye recorded just two tackles in the game, both of them assisted tackles.

This season Onye is expected to play a much bigger role in the fighting Irish’s defensive game plan. As Washington put it, the team is counting on him to give his best every time he touches the field.