Domann showing no rust after late camp arrival

After missing the first week of fall camp while rehabbing a lingering injury, there were questions about how much work JoJo Domann would have to make up to return to his place as a fixture on Nebraska’s defense.

As it turned out, not much at all.

Though the junior is still on a limited workload this fall, he returned to Lincoln seemingly without missing a step from what he showed last season and this spring as the Huskers’ hybrid outside linebacker/defensive back weapon.

“You don’t know what to expect out of a guy like that, but then we throw him in a couple days ago for his first go-around and he looks like he didn’t let off at all from the spring,” NU defensive coordinator Erik Chinander said.

“He’s a very sharp kid, he knows what he’s doing, he knows how to use his body, and he’s just a different kind of guy that we have out there than those other guys. You put a true cover guy out there and they can do some really nice things, and you put a true outside ‘backer in there and they can be physical. But JoJo’s kind of got a mesh of both.”

Outside linebackers coach Jovan Dewitt echoed Chinander’s evaluation, saying that while the staff has been careful with how much they work Domann, he was still getting a wide variety of reps and executing at a high level.

That included playing the Huskers’ situational scrimmage on Friday in Memorial Stadium. Dewitt guessed that if the defense got in 60 total team reps in a practice, right now Domann would be on the field for roughly 35 of them.

“He’s super smart,” Dewitt said. “I don’t have any issue with his mental ability. It’s literally just trying to manage his return to play so that it’s not too much, too soon, and then you run the risk of hurting him and then he’s out for longer.”

Domann played his best football as a Husker when he switched from safety to his new hybrid role midway through last season, starting two games and finishing with 19 tackles, a sack, and two forced fumbles.

Assuming Domann stays on his current trajectory, Chinander said he’d have a chance to work his way onto Nebraska’s starting defense for the season opener vs. South Alabama on Aug. 31.

“He can allow us to get in and out of packages because he hasn’t lost his cover ability,” Chinander said. “You don’t always have to substitute with him. You can get into four-down linemen, you can get into three-down, you can get into two-down with him. You can blitz him, you can cover with him. He gives you a lot of flexibility.”