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Marcus Freeman opines on the targeting call on JD Bertrand

On3 imageby:Andrew Graham•09/27/22•

AndrewEdGraham

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SOUTH BEND, IN - NOVEMBER 20: Notre Dame Fighting Irish linebacker JD Bertrand (27) battles with Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets running back Dontae Smith (4) during a game between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on November 20, 2021 at Notre Dame Stadium, in South Bend, IN. (Photo by Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire)

Notre Dame linebacker JD Bertrand was ejected for targeting in the second half of a win against North Carolina on Saturday, his second targeting call in as many weeks. Agree with the calls or not, head coach Marcus Freeman knows it’s not sustainable to be without the defender for extended periods of time.

It’ll be a point of emphasis for all the Notre Dame defenders — and especially Bertrand — in the two weeks of practice between now and the Irish’s next game, against BYU on Oct. 8 in Las Vegas. As he did against UNC, Bertrand will be out for the first half of that game because of the targeting call in the second half of a previous game.

“It’s targeting, and you can argue all you want,” Freeman said. “But as I told JD on the field, it’s our job to learn from that situation so — it’s an entire game he’s missed, now. He’s going to miss the first half of this game, he going to miss the first of the next game. So we have to learn from it, we have to change. Or you’re going to continue to get targeting calls. No matter if we agree or disagree.”

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Despite missing a whole game and then some — the two halves for targeting plus the remainders of the games he was ejected from — Bertrand is still one of Notre Dame’s leading tacklers. He has 18 total tackles on the season, tied for fourth on the Irish.

Freeman knows his team can’t afford to be missing Bertrand, or any other defender, due to an ejection that is avoidable in his eyes.

“So we have to understand that’s the way the refs called it, so we have to practice different ways of tackling,” Freeman said. “You’ve gotta make sure you’re not leading with your head. One, it’s safety, but two, you need to be on the field. So we have to look at that and study and say ‘How do we practice’ — for him in particular — ‘a better way, to make sure that doesn’t happen again?'”