Jarron Jones ripped off six tackles for a loss in Notre Dame’s 30-27 win over Miami last weekend, and was honored Tuesday for his massive game.
Jones was named by the FWAA the Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week for his massive showing against the Hurricanes, with those six tackles for a loss helping the Irish limit Miami to only 18 rushing yards.
The 6-foot-5, 315 pound fifth-year graduate student now leads Notre Dame with eight and a half tackles for a loss. Coach Brian Kelly wants to see the same aggressive, instinctive level of play out of him in Notre Dame’s next to two games against the methodical triple option offenses of Navy and Army.
“If he's explosive and he gets off the ball, there's really no worries about how to play this game up front,” Kelly said. “You just need to be explosive. We're not going to get into a read-react thing with him. He's a big fella, and he makes all his plays being explosive. So the best way not to get cut is to blow your guy up. That's kind of what we're talking to Jarron about, and he kind of likes that right now.”
Martini, McGovern, Cage working through concussion protocol
Kelly said Tuesday junior linebacker Greer Martini, redshirt junior right guard Colin McGovern and junior defensive tackle Daniel Cage are all working through the team’s concussion protocol, with Martini and McGovern a day ahead of Cage in it.
Kelly said Martini and McGovern will wear red (non-contact) jerseys during practice on Tuesday after passing their cardiovascular tests on Monday. Cage, due to an academic commitment, wasn’t able to undergo his cardiovascular test on Monday, so Kelly said he’s a day behind Martini and McGovern in the process.
Getting Martini and/or Cage back would be an important boost to an Irish defense that will look to rotate plenty of players against Navy’s cut-blocking triple option offense on Saturday in Jacksonville.
Sanders, Finke will compete for punt return duties
Notre Dame’s punt return unit made a pair of catastrophic gaffes against Miami that resulted in the Hurricane’s first and last touchdowns of the game, errors which were pinned on sophomore returner C.J. Sanders (his fumble was obvious, but Kelly thought Sanders was close enough to field a punt that bounced off freshman Troy Pride Jr. that was recovered by Miami, too).
While former walk-on Chris Finke had a 23-yard return after Sanders’ fumble, Kelly said Tuesday both are in the mix to return punts against Navy and beyond.
Kelly said Sanders, who returned a punt for a touchdown last year against UMass and has flashed a quick, explosive ability to carve up yards on returns, needs to trust himself more and not play with the kind of indecisiveness that led to those two mistakes.
“He's a talented football player, and he needs to trust his talents,” Kelly said. “So as it relates to him, it goes right to that. When you trust your talents, you won't be indecisive. You'll go up and get that football, and you won't suffer the consequences, and our team won't suffer the consequences.”