	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 28, 2016

C. J. Sanders

South Bend, Indiana

Q. You guys are kind of a young wide receiver core. Couple issues with fumbles the last couple of games. Is there a couple of things you guys can point to as to why you've lost the ball a couple of times lately?
C. J. SANDERS: The biggest thing is concentration. You have to follow through with the catch, look at all the wind and things like that. We made those mistakes and we fixed them. It's over with. It's on to the next play. We feel after we did that, we know what we have to work on as far as the catch and tuck. But it's over now.

Q. Is that a transition you have to make from high school where you can probably make miss and now in college where two guys get to you and you have to get down?
C. J. SANDERS: That's a big change. At this level everybody is bigger and faster. So you have to kind of have that notion in the back of your head, okay, you know if there's three guys in the area and I don't know where to go, get down. We made that mistake which we learned from it, so now we know.

Q. Coach Kelly talked about DeShone having really high standards. Not meeting those for Duke. How do you view kind of how DeShone has played so far this year?
C. J. SANDERS: I think he's played well. He's a great leader. He's a guy who demands your attention and he demands greatness from each and every one of us. The biggest thing now is just for us to be more reliable. I felt like we made plays in spurts, but we just have to be more consistent. The guys in our receiver room are capable of making plays. Doesn't matter if it's a young guy like K. J. Stepherson or Chase Claypool. He knows we gotta make the plays, just gotta make them with consistency and just do well.

Q. How have you particularly practiced everything that's gone on in the last -- say the last five weeks of this season and especially in the last couple of days?
C. J. SANDERS: Yeah. I just see it as a little bit of adversity. It's just how you respond to it. The guys in this room are high-character guys. You can't even question that. So the biggest thing from here is just to see how guys respond, see if they're still going to go with their work in a positive way. And I think we responded well. We're just going to keep on grinding, keep on doing what we can control, and I think in the end we'll rebound, because like I said, in this room we have guys in here who are high character and who are going to fight till the end for each other as a group. So I think it'll be good.

Q. How hard is it to have that tunnel vision you have to have? Some of the guys talked last week about not looking beyond the next game, play, that sort of thing, rather than being attempted to look at the big picture?
C. J. SANDERS: You're right. It's tough to kind of have that tunnel vision, but the biggest thing is just being in this room together is just family. Not looking beyond the bigger picture, just looking beyond how can I help my brother, how can I put everything on the line for the guy next to me. So we know we just keep that focus in-house and on each other and the rest will follow.

Q. How do you feel when Kelly says that pretty much everybody's job is on the line?
C. J. SANDERS: Just try to have tunnel vision. The biggest thing is just family, like I said in the previous question, kind of putting everything aside, you know, from you and putting everything on the line for your brother. So no matter who's in the game, if DeShone's carrying the ball or Josh, I know I have to put everything on the line for them. If Corey is in the game at slot, I'm going to be supportive of him and hoping that he makes plays. So it's just that family core value of just being there for each other.

Q. And when you just said that DeShone demands your attention, can you give examples of how exactly he demands his teammates' attention?
C. J. SANDERS: When it comes to detail in practice. Whether you're on your blocking assignment or if you're routing a certain way he kind of demands your attention, hey, we need everything perfect. And I like that out of him. So we just gotta keep on striving to be great. I like that he's pushing us in that area and I think it'll pay off.

Q. And Kelly also said I guess Monday there was some meetings and he feels really confident that you guys have a clear understanding that the direction that the team needs to take moving forward. Was there more fire in the room? Did the players show -- I mean I guess like a different attitude already or how do you feel -- how do you think that -- why does Kelly think that there is a clear understanding I guess moving forward?
C. J. SANDERS: I'm not going to say too much because this stays kind of in-house, but the biggest thing is just putting everything on the line for your brother. I know I said that in the last two questions but that's really what it comes down to. You know, there's so much noise in the media and things like that, but we really have to just focus on each other. And we know that if that aspect is in play, and which we will do, then everything else will pay off in the long run.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297