Notre Dame LB JD Bertrand played 2021 season with wrist injury

When linebacker JD Bertrand led Notre Dame’s defense with 101 tackles last season — 46 more than any other player on the roster — he did so with a nagging left wrist injury.

Bertrand shared Thursday that he was dealing with pain in his wrist since last August. After the season, Bertrand had what he called a “cleanup surgery” on the wrist. He’s been wearing a cast on his wrist throughout spring practice, which has kept him limited.

Bertrand dealt with the issue last season by wearing extra protection during practices. On game days, he wanted to minimize any limitations on his wrist mobility and grip strength. Because he wore similar braces and/or tape on both wrists, an unsuspecting observer wouldn’t have known of the issues with his left wrist.

Bertrand might be limited for the remainder of spring as he continues to wear the hard cast. Notre Dame’s trainers and doctors will continue to monitor the healing.

“It’s just kind of take it one day at a time and see how I progress,” Bertrand said. “There are no worries in their mind or my mind in how it’s going to heal.”

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