After kicking 3 players off the team, Colorado coach Deion Sanders says "We ain't playing"

Colorado head football coach Deion Sanders revealed this week that he removed three players from the Buffaloes roster after what he called conduct that was detrimental to the team.

Sanders didn't specify which players were no longer with the program but indicated it was for a pattern of behavior and not just what transpired in a 41-7 loss last weekend at Northwestern.

"We removed three. No longer on the team. We ain't playing," said Sanders on the weekly CBS Colorado Sports show "Coach Prime's Playbook with Romi Bean."

When asked how the rest of the team responded to the action, the coach said "They understand that it's real, that we ain't playing. If you ain't with us, you ain't with us. It's not going to be (okay to have) any conduct detrimental to the team. We're not standing for that. We will remove you because you ain't with us no way. So let's move on."

When asked if the athletes will be given opportunities to work their way back onto the roster, Sanders said, "No, no. It's a wrap. It's done."

"When it's detrimental, it's detrimental. You can't have that lingering around," he said.

In his weekly news conference on Tuesday, Sanders referenced last season when things went sideways and the team finished 3-9.

"A year ago, I didn't put my foot down in it enough," he said. "It lingered a little bit. Then, it imploded. I'm not doing that. I'm not doing that anymore."

Defensive back Ben Finneseth spoke to reporters before Sanders in Boulder and apologized on behalf of the team in regard to negative comments caught on video about Northwestern's temporary stadium. A player in a video posted on social media can be heard saying, "(expletive) sounds like a (expletive) library. It's football."

Finneseth said Tuesday: "It was childish. It was a stupid thing that I said. It won't happen again, and the way I handled it was horrible. I promise you guys that it will not happen again, and it will be much more mature moving forward. So I apologize."

Before Finneseth left, Sanders shook his hand and added, "That's why I love you."

Sanders expressed his frustration Saturday night and acknowledged that he got on a few players for their reaction after the loss. He said: "I don't understand how you can have joy in a loss, especially when I'm upset and I'm walking right behind you."

The coach took accountability, too.

"I don't (pass) the buck and push the blame on anyone else. It's on me," Sanders said Tuesday. "We want to win the right way, and we want to do what's right. But the whole thing is about winning. We don't want to ever employ a losing type of sentiment. We don't want to do things that are associated with losers and bad-mouth opponents and do that kind of stuff. That's not who we are."

The Buffaloes are trying to rebound after a game in which they had four turnovers and committed nine penalties for 80 yards.

"A loss by 10, a loss by three, a loss by 30 - it hurts me. There's no degrees of loss," Sanders said. "Like, there's no degrees of sin. A sin is a sin. A loss is a loss to me."

Sanders is putting everything under a microscope as the Buffaloes prepare for Saturday's game at Baylor. At the top of the list: penalties.

Colorado has 28 penalties for 247 yards so far this season. It's frustrating to Sanders, who pointed out the team is disciplined in everything it does on the practice field.

"Then when you get out from the field and you're undisciplined, I don't understand," Sanders said. "It's hard to fathom.

"We're challenging them to be who they say they want to be."

Sanders had several leaders approach him about how to get ahead of this so more dismissals don't occur. They want to help stay on top of the situation.

"I applaud them for that," Sanders said, "coming to me ready to get ahead of it."

"Coach Prime's Playbook with Romi Bean" airs at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday nights on CBS Colorado.