The talk surrounding Michigan football over the last two days has been about wide receiver Tarik Black’s foot injury.
Not much is known about it yet, other than the fact that head coach Jim Harbaugh said he will miss ‘some weeks’ this afternoon at his weekly press conference.
The U-M head man appeared on the Inside Michigan Football radio show in Ann Arbor this evening and expanded a bit on Black’s injury and status.
“Tarik is a strong guy,” he said. “When the moment happens, things flash in your mind of what you’ve been through before — he fractured his left foot last year, and now it’s the right.
“You think about everything it took to get back, and that’s rehab. He’s picking up marbles with his toes, and that’s some grueling stuff. Tarik also came a long way once he came back — he improved by leaps and bounds and got himself in position to start going into this Notre Dame game.
“He’s been through it before and can do it again, knowing he’ll come back stronger and faster. Tarik will have both feet surgically repaired, and the best is yet to come for him.
“A return is very much possible for this season — I’m not closing the door on that at all.”
The Wolverine offense will miss Black tremendously, but fortunately, it still has another play maker in junior quarterback Shea Patterson.
Ever since Harbaugh named him the starter, he has raved about the veteran’s abilities.
“He has a ‘win factor,’” Harbaugh noted. “He’s been focused and intense, and I love to see that in a quarterback. Shea has played in big games before where a lot has been at stake.
“We have a lot of confidence in him taking snaps for our football team. He does a lot of things well — dropping back under center or in the shotgun — and we have opened up the playbook even more.”
Patterson has been described by some as a risk taker, but has an elite defense behind him that should allow him to take some chances.
Harbaugh cautioned that U-M isn’t the only team who will have a great defense on Saturday night in South Bend though.
“Whenever you play a road game, you want to pack the defense,” he explained. “Notre Dame has a great unit too — they’ve been very impressive on tape.
“How dynamic our defense will be, along with theirs, should be answered on Saturday. They’ve got experienced guys along the front line and at linebacker, and an experienced secondary — they’re pretty darned similar to us.”
The U-M head coach expressed this afternoon that he thinks the two storied programs should face each other every year in college football, because ‘it just makes sense.’
“Start with the fact that we’re only two and a half hours away from each other,” he observed. “It’s two teams we’ve all grown up watching, who have great traditions and tremendous academics, along with great athletics throughout all their sports programs.
“They’re two of the winningest football programs of all time — they rank No. 1 and No. 2, or close to it. Does it make any more sense than that?”
Notes
• The offensive line's progress throughout fall camp has been talked about in depth by the players, and Harbaugh finally chimed in on the unit as a whole this evening.
“I feel good about them," he admitted. "They’ve improved. They want to change the narrative, and Sept. 1 will give them the opportunity to do so."
• Harbaugh has gained a reputation for being a relentless worker in the college football coaching ranks, but even he admitted he took a short vacation and spent some time with the family in June.
“I had a little time after we finished our summer camps," he recalled. "I got away with the family — the highlight was a day with my five-year old son, Jack, who is into baseball right now.
"He had me pitch to him one day and he he took 1,000 swings, and got a blister on his finger. I took a picture of it and after we put a band-aid on it, he took about 75 more.
"We made our own wiffle ball field in the backyard — if it landed in the tree, it was out and a foul ball over the fence was also out — we had all kinds of rules.
"After July 4, vacation is over in my mind and it's back to football.”
More of TheWolverine's Coverage of Fall Camp:
• News and Views: Jim Harbaugh Monday Presser Thoughts
• Tarik Black out for 'Some Weeks'
• Video: Players Discuss Notre Dame Week, Start of Season
• Video: Harbaugh Press Conference, pre-Notre Dame
• Harbaugh's Notre Dame Week Press Conference — Live Updates
• Five Things That Stood out From Open Practice
• Sunday Night Chat: Practice Observations, Recruiting and More
• Team Announces Four Captains for 2018
• Dwumfour Reveals Which U-M Lineman is Toughest to Face
• Ben Mason the Latest to Sing Shea Patterson's Praises
• Shea Patterson Confident, not Cocky
• Thursday Presser: What we Learned From Patterson, More
• Ruiz — 'We get Things Done now we Couldn't do Before'
• Shea Patterson Speaks for First Time During Camp
• Josh Uche is the Next ... (???)
• News and Views: Linebackers Coach Al Washington
• Tarik Black — 'Shea Patterson Just Brings a Positive Energy'
• TheWolverine Staff on the Huge Show, Football Preview
• Grant Newsome Opens up About his Retirement, leg Injury
• What we Learned on Tuesday — a Super Frosh and More
• 5 Players (Including Grant Newsome) Speak This Afternoon
• Partridge Reveals a Position Change, top Kick Returners
• Redshirt Freshman DL Deron Irving-Bey Transferring to CMU
• Harbaugh Provides Extensive Update on Specific Michigan Football Players
• Al Washington: 'He's one of the Most Gifted Edge Rushers I've Been Around'
• Shea Patterson Will Start the Opener at Notre Dame
• Videos: Washington, Partridge Provide Fall Camp Update
• Don Brown: 'As Good a Group as I've Been Around'
• Metellus Intent on Fixing his 'man Coverage Weakness'
• Friday Night Presser: What we Learned
• Video: Four Players Talk Fall Camp, Notre Dame Game
• Don Brown Looking for More Bodies to Join 'the Core'
• News and Views: Sherrone Moore Talks new Offensive Staff
• Thursday Thoughts: Practice Rumblings
• News and Views: Corners Coach Mike Zordich
• Sherrone Moore Knows how Special McKeon, Gentry can be
• Zordich Loves his Group, Assesses Each Corner
• Video: Zordich, Moore Thrilled With Their Position Groups
• Podcast: Angelique Chengelis With John Borton
• Audio: Chris Balas on the Huge Show, Aug. 14
• Jim Harbaugh, Don Brown News & Views
• Wolverine Watch: No Loose Lips in Schembechler
• Khaleke Hudson Offers Patterson Tidbits, Practice Info
• Video: Wolverine Players Give an Update on Fall Camp
• Jim Harbaugh Identifies Camp Standouts
• Harbaugh Doesn't Anticipate Suspensions From Shoe Sales
• Video: Harbaugh Talks Camp Standouts, More
• Practice Observer — 'Quarterback Play Will be a lot Better'
• Players Provide Tidbits at Friday Night Presser
• Bredeson — 'Warinner has Simplified Everything for us'
• Video: Gary, Bush, Gentry and Bredeson Talk Fall Camp
• Eddie McDoom Transferring From U-M
• Practice Report: 'Phenomenal Change' on Offensive Line
• News and Views: Jay Harbaugh on the Progress of the RBs
• Don Brown Identifies Early Practice Standouts
• Video: Don Brown, Jay Harbaugh Talk Start of Fall Camp
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