Among the many improvements that this year's Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team has shown, few have been as significant as the progression of wide receiver T.J. Jones, as JJ Stankevitz of CSN Chicago writes. The junior has been in the spotlight since catching the game-winning touchdown pass in Notre Dame's win over Stanford on Saturday.
Speaking about the game-winning play, which involved Jones adjusting to a poorly-thrown ball by quarterback Tommy Rees, Irish coach Brian Kelly expressed his excitement with how that play reflects on the young wideout:
He came out of his break, came back six yards for the ball. Great receivers do that. They come back and get the football. They don't stand waiting for it. And that's been his progression.
As Stankevitz notes, Jones' overall numbers this season aren't exactly prolific — 19 catches for 235 yards and two TD's — but the coaching staff clearly believes in his skill set at this point. As Notre Dame continues to play through one of the nation's most difficult schedules, it'll presumably need more big plays from Jones like last weekend's.