Outside of junior wide receiver Ronnie Bell's season-ending knee injury suffered during the team's season opener, sixth-ranked Michigan Wolverines football has had relatively good luck with health this season.
However, the Maize and Blue did enter their bye week last week a bit banged up, namely on the offensive line, with redshirt freshman left guard Trevor Keegan and second-year freshman right guard Zak Zinter both being limited in the squad's game at Nebraska Oct. 9. In addition, second-year freshman wide receiver Roman Wilson did not make the trip to Lincoln after suffering what is believed to be a hand injury.
Head coach Jim Harbaugh has said that Michigan's bye came at a great time, with the Wolverines getting a chance to rest up last week, and now there's hope that all three players will be available this coming weekend when they host Northwestern.
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"We’ll find out tomorrow exactly where we are," Harbaugh said Monday night on the Inside Michigan Football show hosted by fellow former U-M All-American Jon Jansen. "Guys are making progress. There’s a good possibility that we can get everybody back. We’ll see. We just don’t know as we sit here discussing it on Monday."
Wilson has played 157 snaps on the season — the third-most among wide receivers — accumulating nine receptions for 145 yards. His breakout game came at Wisconsin, just before he was hurt in practice the following week, with six grabs for 87 yards, including a career-high 38-yard catch.
Keegan, meanwhile, has started all six games at left guard, and was in and out of the game against Nebraska with a shoulder injury. Zinter suffered a broken wrist in preseason camp, but has played in every game with a club on his hand. He was battling through an apparent lower-body injury against Nebraska, logging 20 snaps before being taken out for good and replaced by multiple backups.
Regardless of whether or not all three players return against the Wildcats, Harbaugh's comments serve as welcomed words to fans hoping the standouts haven't suffered long-term injuries that will hold them out for the majority of the remainder of the season.
Jansen described the upcoming final six regular-season games as a "full-out sprint," and Harbaugh agreed, taking it one step further to say his players have adopted that mentality of not looking back and realizing the biggest clashes are ahead.
"That is the message that’s coming from coaches and players — you’re putting the blinders on this week," Harbaugh revealed. "It’s the next game, and that’s where you put your focus at. But the players also feel like, what can they do individually, just personally, where can they find growth? Go back and look at their tape, and this is how they’re talking, the advice they’re giving each other; get with your coach, find out every little way you can improve as we go into this season, because they feel it too — they can accomplish really big things.
"And the other mindset they have, and you’ve heard it from them all season long is, we haven’t done anything yet. Nobody’s taking a big, long bow. We’re looking to see where we can get better."
Michigan Football Defensive Line Has Pleasantly Surprised Jim Harbaugh
Harbaugh raved about all of his position groups, but revealed that one in particular has been a pleasant surprise — the defensive line. He said earlier in the day that sophomore defensive tackle Christopher Hinton and redshirt freshman nose tackle Mazi Smith have "leveled up" this season, showing great growth, and others have progressed nicely as well.
"Been pleased with the lines — the offensive line and the defensive line," Harbaugh said. "Kind of came into the season thinking, ‘I hope we’re not going to be too thin on the defensive line. I hope we’re going to be big enough and play well enough.’ And the guys have really stepped up. I see our offensive line and defensive line equally good, and also can be better."
He's pleased with how his team has improved throughout the year, and knows that has to continue if it wants to compete for championships down the stretch.
"It always comes down to that — stack good day after good day, good game after good game," Harbaugh said. "And that’s the goal and what it really all comes down to."
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