The standard is next man up. It's a mentality

 

SOUTH BEND, Ind -- Notre Dame battling injuries on both sides of the ball, but the "next man up" mentality is held strong.

There are two guarantees in life. Death and taxes. But in football, there's three guarantees. Wins, losses, and injuries!

"This is just a part of the game, and injuries happen," Head Coach Marcus Freeman said.

Each week, Marcus Freeman starts his Monday press conference by listing players who are hurt and the severity of their injury.

"A couple injury updates. Boubacar Traore will be out for the year with a torn left ACL questionable for the upcoming game is Cooper Flanagan with a foot," Freeman said.

Sometimes the list gets quite long.

"Billy Schrauth, with his foot, is still questionable for this game. Probable expected to play would be Jordan Faison and his ankle. Josh Burnham and Christian Gray," Freeman added.

But it doesn’t matter.

"Honestly, it's really just next man up mentality. We always talk about that," Graduate Senior Defensive Lineman Howard Cross said.

It's not easy to see a teammate go down, but defensive tackle Howard Cross stressed the standard has been set.

"I love them. They're my boys. But I mean, if you if, if you're like, third string or fourth string, and someone happens, you're up, no questions asked, like you're expected to uphold or be better than the person in front of you, that's how it works," Cross added.

The responsibility comes regardless of age, year, and position.

"At the end of the day, though, everybody's got to be able to play. It's next man up mentality," Linebacker Drayk Bowen said.

"It's just kind of just being ready to go, same as people going down. People go down. Next guy has to be ready to go," Safety Xavier Watts added.