Torii Hunter Jr. 'Confident' He'll Play Saturday Against Michigan State
Torii Hunter Jr. has seen the replays of the vicious third-quarter hit in the end zone that knocked him out of the Texas game.
Longhorns safety DeShon Elliott’s borderline illegal hit — which was not called targeting, much to the dismay of Notre Dame coaches and fans — knocked the Irish senior receiver unconscious. Hunter said there’s a brief period of time, which stretches from the time of the hit to when he was walking into the tunnel, that he doesn’t remember.
And though he was in no condition to play, Hunter kept trying to sit up and brush off the hit.
“So my subconscious is the same as my conscious, I guess. I don't know,” Hunter said. “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.”
Hunter is likely to play in Saturday’s primetime matchup against No. 12 Michigan State, a game in which his presence could mean the difference. He went through one-on-ones, seven-on-sevens and 11-on-11 during practice Tuesday, doing as much as possible without going to the ground while protecting his head.
As the week goes on, he said he’ll push himself to see what he can handle.
“I'm confident I'll be ready come Saturday,” Hunter said.
It’s the first diagnosed concussion for Hunter, who went through Notre Dame’s stringent protocol last week. He was limited to just conditioning work on a stationary bike for most of the week leading up to the Nevada game before doing some non-contact route-running Friday.
Notre Dame felt the loss of Hunter late in the Texas game. He caught four passes for 37 yards and a touchdown before leaving the game. He did not play in the Irish’s 39-10 victory over the Wolf Pack and is finally getting back to normal.
“I'm feeling a lot better. I'm feeling like myself again,” Hunter said. “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 (Wednesday)."
Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly said after a player is cleared, he puts the decision to play in their hands. That was the case with Hunter, who took the advice of those close to him and sat out the Nevada game.
“Everybody agreed that it would be best for me to not even play, even if I did feel good enough, just to make sure,” Hunter said. “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.”
Hunter spoke with student assistant Corey Robinson, a former Irish receiver who stepped away from the game after numerous concussions. The important thing, Robinson told Hunter, is to only come back once he’s ready and not feel the pressure to come back too soon.
In that sense, Hunter explained the difficulty of coming back from a concussion and the rehab process.
“It's definitely different because it's my brain and not a body part that you can rehab really hard,” he said. “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 turn off 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.”
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