Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/669106
UNDER THE DOME GRANT BLANKENSHIP SUSPENDED; COREY ROBINSON'S FOOTBALL FUTURE TO BE EVALUATED The day before the April 16 Blue-Gold Game that signaled the end of spring drills, Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly indicated two current Fighting Irish scholarship players — junior defensive end Grant Blankenship and senior wide receiver Corey Robinson — have issues to handle that might put their football futures in jeopardy because of differ- ent reasons. Blankenship was suspended from the team after practicing the first three weeks. Robinson, who suf- fered a concussion in the opening week of drills, met with one of the nation's top head injury specialists April 12. Blankenship had been working at weakside end this spring behind classmates Andrew Trumbetti and Jay Hayes, who have basically become co-start- ers at the position. Kelly said the suspension stemmed from a violation of team rules where "the standards that have been set within the program have not been met." The Irish head coach added that it's not yet been determined whether Blankenship will return and be on the 2016 roster. "I will meet with him after the spring game and we'll decide what the course is from here on out," Kelly said. As for Robinson, who took office on April 1 as Notre Dame's student body president, he and his family had a meeting with Dr. Brian T. Kucer, one of the top head injury specialists in the country, to get an evaluation of the multiple concussions he has received recently that have kept him sidelined. "It was an extremely educational meeting for him," Kelly said April 15. "I'm very hesitant to go into the details because I think that's a private mat- ter for Corey, but I know this: He came back feeling really good about the meeting. I think a decision will be forthcoming relative to what his future is. "My expectation is we will have something here within the next couple of weeks." Robinson's 65 career catches (40 as a sophomore in 2014) are easily the most among any returning 2016 Notre Dame wideout, with classmate Torii Hunter Jr.'s 35 in second place. No one else at wide receiver or at slot has caught more than one ball during his college career. — Lou Somogyi ROBINSON