Losing is not a word Clemson defensive end K.J. Henry is familiar with.

As a Tiger, the redshirt sophomore only has experienced two losses including last week at Notre Dame. But the North Carolina native doesn’t let failure phase him. He stated after the game, he looked to his faith to get him through the loss to the Fighting Irish.

Henry on his mindset right after the game 

“We all take losses differently. What was on my heart was, God is still the one to praise. That’s what I wanted to share with the world. Being a part of such a successful program, the fans and ourselves felt like the world was over. In the course of an entire pandemic, I felt like I would be a fool to think that. There are a lot of worse things going on than a Clemson loss. It’s obviously something that we would never want, and we are going to work to fix…we’ll be okay. We learned a lot from our game this past weekend.”

Henry credits Notre Dame  

“It was a great offensive line that we played. Definitely a very elusive quarterback. We were trying to get there. There were definitely times when we had some great rushes and were back there. Obviously, it was one of those days where it had to be the perfect situation of covering him (Ian Book) and keeping him in the pocket and great coverage down field. It’s a lot easier said than done. There is definitely room for improvement but hats off to them. They balled out this weekend.”

Henry on the mood of the team  

“I think the overall mood of the team reload. It definitely was a band aid that was hard to rip off. Win or lose it’s not a rear view mirror mindset we have  here. We have a lot of respect for the next opponent coming up, Florida State. We have to start preparing for them. They’ve been playing great football lately. We have to flip the page and give them the respect they deserve. There is definitely some pain in losing. It’s not something we aren’t used to, but at the same time we are focused on what’s up next.”

Henry on what’s at stake for the Tigers after the loss

“We aren’t stuck underground. We know what’s at stake. We know the situation around us. At the same time, we don’t take anybody lightly. That’s what a lot of people are going to want, for us to look ahead. I know in this house we are going to respect the next team we play and get ready for that next opponent. That’s all that matters right now. We will get this week to improve ourselves.”

Henry on the defensive injuries

“It makes it easier when you’re on d-line, because then you can’t see anybody behind you. You just see everything in front of you, and that’s the other team…that’s what type of year it is for everybody. We aren’t going to use that as an excuse. Everybody has people hurt, sick. It’s the next man up mentality.”