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UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCESeptember 14, 2016Torii Hunter Jr.South Bend, Indiana Q. Hey, Torii, how are you feeling coming off of that? TORII HUNTER JR.: I'm feeling a lot better. I'm feeling like myself again. Yeah, after that last week I kind of felt out of it and I felt slow, sluggish. But Friday, Saturday I started feeling a lot better, but now I'm feeling back to myself and feeling normal. I went through practice yesterday, felt a little out of shape, but I pushed myself as hard as I could. Hopefully I'll have a better day today. Q. You're through the protocol at this point? TORII HUNTER JR.: Yeah, I passed all my brain tests or whatever, concussion tests on Sunday. And then Monday just went through some FSA, like flex, stretch and agility, stretching, just getting loose and trying to get my feet back under me. Then yesterday I went out to practice and did a lot of non-contact drills, just tried to stay off the ground as much as I could, keep my head out of plays, and today I pushed myself a little more. Q. Have you ever had a concussion before? What was the experience like? TORII HUNTER JR.: It was my first one that I've told them about or that they've known about. That I've actually lost consciousness and all that. So, yeah, it was my first one that I've experienced. It was a real experience, but I'm glad to be back. Q. Did you feel like that hit that was on you warranted a penalty? TORII HUNTER JR.: I don't know if it warranted a penalty, but it probably deserved a look at it afterwards. I heard about the new rule or whatever, but I mean, it is what it is. I can't control it. I can only go out there and play. Q. Coming off last week, what kind of feedback did you get from the guys who got in the game Saturday? What sort of feedback did you get from them about how they sort of responded to taking on the whole shoulder of the offense there? TORII HUNTER JR.: Yeah, so a lot of guys I told them that they had to step up, and they told me that they had my back and they were going to go out there and play because I'm the leader of that group and they knew somebody had to step up in my place because I wasn't going to be able to be out there. And you probably saw last game, a lot of those guys really stepped up. K.J. came in and had a touchdown, couple catches. And Corey Holmes had a third-down conversion, might have been a fourth, I don't know. But a lot of those guys stepped up, Equanimeous. They're ready to play. I've been trying to tell everybody over the last month or so that these young guys can play and they can make plays for us, and they showed that these last couple weeks. Q. You guys obviously want to play for a National Championship every year. With that first loss to Texas, how important -- is there added pressure going into this game knowing that a second loss would probably take you out of that championship picture? TORII HUNTER JR.: I don't know. We try to approach it the same way. We know it's an important game for us as far as the rest of our season goes. We're just trying to approach it like every other week. This is going to be a tough opponent, and we know we have to prepare well and go out there and execute. I think everybody has a sense of how important this game is, and we just try not to make it known and ignore the noise. Q. I know you're a young guy, but 50 years ago Michigan State and Notre Dame played in a huge game. Do you know much about the history of these schools and some of the games they've played in? TORII HUNTER JR.: Not really. I don't really know too much about the history. I wasn't a Notre Dame fan growing up. So I don't know too much about it. Was it one of the games that had the Hail Mary or something like that? Was that Notre Dame? Q. '66 was a 10-10 tie game, yeah. TORII HUNTER JR.: Oh, okay. Something like that. I don't know too much about the history. Q. What have you seen from this Michigan State defense that's impressed you? TORII HUNTER JR.: They stick to what they know. They're not -- they don't try to mix in different looks. They are what they are. And they show that every week and they've shown it the last couple years on film. So they're the same guys. They're going to try to test you outside, try to stop the run, and you know they're going to see if their DBs are more tougher than our wide receivers. So it's going to be that type of game. We're going to have to make plays and they're good at what they do. Q. You looked like you were enjoying yourself on the field before the game on Saturday. Do you think you could have played or just a lack of preparation during the week ruled that out in your mind? TORII HUNTER JR.: I wanted to play, but mentally I just wouldn't want to take that risk of not being completely ready to play. Everybody, I think, agreed that it would be best for me to not even play, even if I did feel good enough, just to make sure. It was also a good time for the younger guys to make some plays and put some pressure on them, get them some experience and everything like that. Q. From a conditioning standpoint getting out there yesterday for the first time, during the protocol what were you allowed to do physically? TORII HUNTER JR.: Just basically ride the bike and run on the treadmill and elliptical. Q. But it's not on the field? TORII HUNTER JR.: Of course, it's not on-field movements. Friday I got on the field and did a small little workout, ran a couple routes and the route tree, caught some balls. But it's still nothing like going out there and practicing against a defense. Q. What do you remember about the hit in the end zone? Is that blank in your mind, and did it impact from memories earlier in the game when you caught the touchdown pass? TORII HUNTER JR.: No, I remember everything leading up to the hit. I remember catching the ball, having it in my hands. But as soon as I got hit I don't remember any of that, and I don't remember being on the ground. The last thing I remember was taking the step down the stairs to go into the locker room, and that's when I was kind of back aware that that's what was going on. Q. You kept trying to get up right away and the medical staff. Did you see that? TORII HUNTER JR.: Yeah, I've seen the videos. I guess even though I wasn't aware of anything, I still wanted to be out there playing. So my subconscious is the same as my conscious, I guess. I don't know. But I did want to be out there. Even when I went inside I was trying to get back out there and go on the sidelines and help those guys win. Q. Michigan State love to press at the line of scrimmage. They always have under Dantonio. I asked Coach Kelly yesterday how he wants his receivers to respond to that. His answer was run. He wants to be aggressive to try to get off of it. How do you look at that and what is the emphasis this week as you prepare for their press coverage? TORII HUNTER JR.: The emphasis is just to make plays because we're going to have to make plays on the other side, because they're going to try to stop the run and they're going to try to get an extra man in the box at all times. They've got some pretty hard safeties. So we've got to make plays on the outside, X, Z, W, we've all just got to make plays. They're going to be throwing our way, so we've got to make the plays. Q. What are some of the technical things you have to do to get off press coverage? TORII HUNTER JR.: Really we've just got to run, like Coach Kelly said, man. Just be as physical as they are, because they're going to be physical, they're going to try to push you out of bounds, they're going to grab and hold, and they say they're not going to call the pass interference plays that are out there. But they're going to do it every time and test you just to see what your manhood is like. So we've got to go out there and be just as physical as they are. Q. In games that you've played at Notre Dame, what previous opponent pressed you as much as Michigan State likely will? TORII HUNTER JR.: Pitt last year. I think Narduzzi was at Michigan State, so Pitt they run a similar offense. We've watched a lot of, well, I have personally, watched some film on Pitt just from a scheme point of view. Not personnel, but scheme. They have a similar scheme. Pitt probably is the closest team to Michigan State. Q. I know you said you went through and passed all the concussion protocol. Coach Kelly says that even after you passed it's still up to the player in how good you feel. So how confident are you right now that you're going to play against Michigan State on Saturday? TORII HUNTER JR.: I'm fairly confident because yesterday I did everything. That they would allow me to do. And yesterday I pushed myself, I did a couple of one-on-ones, seven-on-seven, 11-on-11. I did as much as I could and just tried to be smart about falling on the ground and keeping my head up and blocking plays and different things like that. So as the week goes on, I'll try to push myself more and see what I can do. I'm confident I'll be ready come Saturday. Q. After the Texas game, you were back out watching it in the corner with your parents. Was that a surreal feeling? What was going through you as you were watching the end of that game? TORII HUNTER JR.: How much I wanted to be out there, for sure. That was the most important thing. I really wanted to be out there with those guys. Even just on the sideline, I felt so far away from everything that was going on. But I was over there coaching and yelling as much as I could, even though they couldn't hear me. I just wanted to be out there, closer to the guys and closer to the game. It was definitely tough watching the game and how it unfolded. Q. Talk about the young guys stepping up. Corey Holmes is not that young of a guy, but what have you seen from him to the progression of the player that he is on right now? TORII HUNTER JR.: He's definitely grown as a player, and he's definitely more confident this year than he has been previously in these last couple years. Yeah, his confidence is probably the biggest thing, because he's a good athlete, and he can make plays. So getting that confidence is kind of taking you out of the pressure of whatever it may be that kind of hinders your game. But he's gaining that confidence to be able to go out there and play. Q. The follow-up to the '66 game question. I know you don't know the game. But back then, it was No. 1 Notre Dame versus No. 2, Michigan State. The second to last game of the season, both undefeated so a huge game. Can you imagine playing a big game and coming out with a tie? TORII HUNTER JR.: Yeah, I can't really imagine having a big game come out in a tie. Do they still have ties? Q. Haven't had one in 21 years? TORII HUNTER JR.: So, yeah, I'm 21, so in my lifetime I've never really seen a tie, so it's hard to fathom. Q. Even in high school you played overtime? TORII HUNTER JR.: Yeah, you play to win. That's how we played in high school. So I can't really wrap my head around it. Q. You've had your injuries that keep you off the field. Does that ramp up the anxiousness to get back out there because you missed so much time or did that help in a way because you had to be off the field before? How did that work mindset-wise over the last ten days or so? TORII HUNTER JR.: It definitely helped. It helped because I knew what my mindset had to be. It's definitely different because it's my brain and not a body part that you can rehab really hard. So I kind of had to take a step back and not do anything, which is kind of weird. But I kind of attacked it the same way as rehab, and I had a lot of help. My family came down and made me turnoff TVs and sit in a dark room and things like that just to get my brain back to where I was. So I kind of attacked it the same way I would any other rehab just to try to get myself back on the field as soon as I could. And I knew I had to be a cheerleader and a coach on the sidelines as much as I could. I wasn't new to that. I think going through something that keeps you off the field is definitely something that can help you through it later on. Q. On the flip side, how anxious and excited are you to get back out there, especially being how big of a game it is? TORII HUNTER JR.: Yeah, I'm extremely excited to be back out there. It's tough just being out there watching the guys play you know how much work you put into it, and to miss a game is tough. But I'm excited to be back and to play with my brothers again. Q. Having Corey Robinson around, someone with a history of that stuff, did you talk to him and maybe see how he came back from some of those hits? TORII HUNTER JR.: Yeah, he just really wanted me to rest and make sure I wasn't doing anything crazy, being on my phone, computer, whatever it may be and just to take my time. Whenever I feel like I was ready, that's when I should come back. That's one of the main things he stressed, and that was the main thing that everybody has kind of stressed. Just come back whenever you feel ready and don't feel pressure to come back. Q. DeShon Elliott you said he called you and apologized. Can you share the details of that conversation? TORII HUNTER JR.: Yeah, he messaged me on Twitter and apologized about the hit. He said he didn't mean to target me. And jokingly I said, oh, so you did target? And I was like, no, I'm kidding. You were just trying to make a play like I was, and it's all good and stuff like that. So that's how that conversation went. Also, I think Kevin Vaccaro, I think he's the other safety, he also messaged me and apologized about everything. I thought it was cool that they did that. I can respect it. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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