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Notebook: Bo Bauer shows another special teams skill at Pro Day

Former Notre Dame linebacker Bo Bauer is still recovering from his season-ending knee surgery in October.
Former Notre Dame linebacker Bo Bauer is still recovering from his season-ending knee surgery in October. (Jeff Douglas, Inside ND Sports)

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The bench press humbled Bo Bauer in early January.

The recovery from major knee surgery to repair multiple ligaments suffered in a season-ending injury in October prohibited the former Notre Dame linebacker from lifting weights for more than two months. When he finally found himself trying to push up 225 pounds on the bench press, he could only manage 10 reps.

“It lit a fire under me,” Bauer said Friday after completing 30 bench press reps during Notre Dame’s Pro Day.

In the months after the injury that ended Bauer’s Notre Dame career in his fifth and final season of eligibility, some people asked Bauer if he was done with football for good. Maybe they didn’t know him too well.

“I didn’t want to go out on some fluke injury with my knee,” Bauer said. “I wanted to show, ‘Hey, I’m here to stick around. I’m going to do whatever it takes.’”

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What Bauer gave Friday was more bench press reps than any linebacker reached at the NFL Scouting Combine earlier this month. Bauer didn’t participate in any of the other testing events due to his left leg only being at 75% strength as he continues to work his way back from the knee injury.

Bauer showed off another skill instead: long snapping. Notre Dame special teams analyst Jesse Schmitt, a former Purdue long snapper, caught Bauer’s punt snaps as he showed off his new trick.

Bauer, a special teams contributor throughout his entire Notre Dame career, actually started learning how to long snap at the suggestion of one of his coaches at Erie (Pa.) Cathedral Prep back when Bauer was still in high school. He tried to stay sharp at the skill throughout college despite never needing to do it for the Irish.

He’s unlikely to become the starting long snapper for an NFL team at this point, but it’s another reason that an NFL team could choose to keep him on a roster or practice squad. Bauer knows his best bet at a professional football career is contributing on four special teams units — kickoff, kick return, punt and punt return — while being prepared to long snap or play linebacker in case of emergency.

“I’m trying to be a Swiss army knife,” Bauer said. “I’ll do whatever a team needs. I’ll be your best four-phase special teams player. But I’ve shown I’m trying to long snap. I’ll help fill another roster spot there. I’m just trying to maximize my value.

“Even though I know I might not physically match up at every linebacker position, I’m still going to know, week in and week out, every position that I can possibly play like the starter does. So, if something would happen, I can play multiple positions.”

The 6-foot-2, 240-pound Bauer finished his Notre Dame career with 120 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, six pass breakups, 2.5 sacks and two interceptions. In Notre Dame’s 26-21 loss to Marshall in the second game of last season, Bauer blocked a punt that allowed the Irish to make a comeback attempt. It was the first blocked punt of a season in which the Irish eventually blocked an FBS-leading seven punts.

At that point of the season, Bauer was already dealing with a shoulder issue, but he still stepped up to make a play.

“I will sacrifice anything for my teammates,” Bauer said. “I just saw the scheme of what was happening on that punt and what they were doing. I knew if something happened I would be able to block it, and it came true.

“You can fix your body. I’m just trying to win the game.”

Bauer was on pace to set the Notre Dame record for career games played. Instead, five games into the season due to an injury that occurred in practice, Bauer’s career total ended at 56. Safety Houston Griffith, who didn’t take part in Friday’s Pro Day, took the career games record instead with 62.

Bauer will likely be waiting for a call from an NFL team as an undrafted free agent on April 29. Maybe former Notre Dame special teams coordinator Brian Mason, who was hired in the same position by the Indianapolis Colts, will be on the other line.

“Going down to the Colts,” Bauer said, “he made the best move for him. Hopefully he brings me along with him.”

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Avery Davis shows he can still scoot  

Seven months haven’t quite passed since Avery Davis had surgery on a torn ACL in his right knee, but the former Notre Dame wide receiver still ran the 40-yard dash on Friday.

Of the nine players to complete the sprint — which included Western Illinois’ Jafar Armstrong, a former ND player, and Indiana State’s Dante Hendrix — only cornerback TaRiq Bracy’s time of 4.54 seconds was faster than Davis’ 4.56.

Davis said Friday he probably could have run a 4.4 prior to his most recent knee injury.

“The goal this year was just to run,” Davis said.

The 5-10, 199-pound Davis didn’t get to play in any games last season due to his injury occurring in August. The former quarterback, cornerback and running back eventually settled into receiver and caught 66 passes for 862 yards and eight touchdowns during his Irish career.

Davis also ran the 20-yard shuttle Friday despite not being ready to run routes at full speed. His 4.23-second time was still only .02 slower than Bracy’s.

A full recovery from his knee injury isn’t expected until mid-May. In the coming months, Davis will start working on more football-specific movements other than running in a straight line.

“I wouldn’t focus on that, because that would just make my knee swell up,” Davis said. “I just had to do what I wanted to do. I wanted to come out here and run and get some closure from this place.”

A Pro Day brought Davis one step closer to his NFL dream.

“It’s definitely something I had written down and been looking forward to for the longest,” Davis said. “I didn’t imagine it going this way in the beginning, but I’m happy to be able to come out here and compete. I couldn’t do everything, but I was happy with what I was able to do.”

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Ademilola twins share field one more time  

Defensive linemen Jayson Ademilola, left, and twin brother Justin Ademilola run a drill during Notre Dame's Pro Day.
Defensive linemen Jayson Ademilola, left, and twin brother Justin Ademilola run a drill during Notre Dame's Pro Day. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Jayson Ademilola’s decision to wear a green shirt while every other Pro Day participant, including his twin brother Justin Ademilola, was wearing white seemed more than a coincidence. He certainly made it easier to tell the twins apart.

“I guess so,” Jayson said when asked if that’s why he wore green.

Justin, a defensive end, could have opted to return to Notre Dame for one more season, but he opted to enter the NFL Draft pool with his Jayson, who exhausted his NCAA eligibility.

“It’s tough, but then again, I’m pursuing a dream of mine and a goal of mine,” Justin said. “I know I can obtain it through hard work and dedication and the traits I learned at Notre Dame. Notre Dame is forever home for me.”

Justin made his decision independent of Jayson, but it only feels right for them to be going through the pre-draft process together.

“We’re identical twins. We’re best friends. We do everything together,” Justin said. “Going through this process is just another chapter in our huge book. Especially doing it together. The next chapter we’re about to go play for separate teams or maybe even one. Who knows? That may be hard, but it’s already written and we’re just chasing right now.”

Most of the testing numbers for the twins ended up pretty similar. The 6-3, 280-pound Jayson leaped 33 inches in the vertical jump and 9-foot-2 in the broad jump. The 6-1, 254-pound Justin hit 33 inches in the vertical and 9-2 in the broad. Justin was quicker than Jayson in the running results: 4.95-5.02 in the 40, 4.56-4.59 in the shuttle and 7.47-7.6 in the three-cone drill.

None of their testing numbers were particularly elite, but they’ll be relying on their film to propel them into an NFL opportunity.

What’s the pitch for Jayson, who totaled 133 tackles, 20 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks in 55 games?

“I’m an elite defensive lineman,” Jayson said. “I’m not just a 3-tech. I’m a defensive lineman. I’m an athlete. I can penetrate the gaps. I live in the backfield. I’m an explosive player, and I can move.”

As for Justin, who finished his ND career with 109 tackles, 13 tackles for loss and nine sacks in 50 games?

“Just that I’m very versatile player,” Justin said. “I can rush from 9, 7, 5, 4i (alignments). I know ball. I know key assignments. I know my coverages. And I know how what a read offense is like.

“You guys can cut the tape. I make plays from the 4i. I make plays from the 5. I make plays from the 7. You can really line me up anywhere, and I’m a team player. Wherever you want to put me, you can count on having production at the position.”

TaRiq Bracy makes his statement

Bracy still hadn’t caught his breath when he was asked to answer questions from reporters at Friday’s Pro Day. He just completed cornerback position drills after a solid performance in testing.

The 5-10, 182-pound Bracy was particularly pleased with his 38.5-inch vertical jump and 20 reps on the bench press. His 4.54-second 40-yard dash wasn’t blazing, but it was still the best of the day on an allegedly slow turf in the Irish Athletics Center.

“I wanted to show I could push the weight a little bit,” Bracy said. “I’ve been practicing on the vertical for quite a while. I’m happy with those results.”

Given his performance as a nickelback and cornerback for Notre Dame this past season, Bracy’s lack of an invite to the NFL Combine was a bit surprising. That motivated Bracy “a little bit” in the last couple months.

“But it is what it is. I just need to focus on myself,” Bracy said. “The combine’s over with. The most important day was my Pro Day.”

Bracy’s known for having a pretty quiet personality, but he plays with a different persona on the football field. His biggest strides as a player this past season came in his physicality. He recorded six tackles for loss in 11 games after only totaling two in the first 44 games of his career.

He showed he can do a little bit of everything.

“I’m fast, strong, coachable, explosive,” Bracy said. “I’m going to compete.”

Josh Lugg does his homework

How many draft-eligible players know the exact number of plays they were on the field for in college? Former Notre Dame offensive lineman Josh Lugg does. That’s because he went back and charted every single play so he could bring numbers to illustrate his versatility and experience.

“I had all those plays: 2,483 plays,” Lugg said. “So now I can send that out and show that I have X amount of snaps at left tackle, left guard, right guard, center, right tackle. It’s a huge selling point for me. I’m trying to utilize that fact. I’ve been everywhere on the line. There’s film to prove that. It’s huge for me.”

The 6-6, 306-pound Lugg used retired offensive line coach Harry Hiestand’s grading system on himself even though he only saw game action in one season for Hiestand, in 2022.

“Going back through some of the grading sheets when I was rewatching Marshall or Stanford this year,” Lugg said, “what was I doing? Then you see the little note there from coach Hiestand. It brings a smile to your face too, because you’re like, ‘Wow. Look how much I’ve grown in just the last eight months with coach Hiestand.’

“Still being able to work with him every day, it’s just getting a little bit better.”

Click the photo below to read Notre Dame's complete Pro Day results

Pro Day results
Pro Day results

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