Michigan lost redshirt freshman quarterback Dylan McCaffrey to a broken collarbone suffered against Penn State. Head coach Jim Harbaugh updated McCaffrey’s status Tuesday.
McCaffrey likely won’t be available to the Wolverines for the rest of the year, even if they make a run to the playoffs, Harbaugh confirmed.
“I really don’t have a timeline, but I think he’s probably not going to be available, but I don’t know for sure,” he said.
But he will be back for spring ball, Harbaugh confirmed.
McCaffrey was running No. 2 to junior Shea Patterson, whose play against Rutgers (260 yards, three scores in windy conditions) might have been his best of the year. Harbaugh said he knew after visiting Patterson in the offseason he had a winner, and he and McCaffrey bot have the ‘it’ factor for the position.
“I just really liked him, really liked his parents … liked his family a lot,” Harbaugh said. “I felt like he was a good guy. I guess my first impression was that he was not the big man on campus type of guy, that maybe stereotypical big man on campus. He was a good, down to earth genuine person and I really liked him and his family. That was the thing that probably resonated the most with me.”
Harbaugh and Ed Warinner saw plenty of his high school, Army All-American Game and college film to know they were interested. When it proved to be a good fit on Patterson’s end, the two parties found each other.
Time will tell whether or not Patterson returns for his senior year, but the Wolverines appear to be in good hands with McCaffrey and freshman Joe Milton for the future.
NOTES
• Harbaugh said he wasn’t sure if junior safety Josh Metellus would play Saturday. Metellus missed the Rutgers game, a 42-7 Michigan win, with a soft tissue injury.
“We’ll practice today and see where he’s at,” Harbaugh said.
There’s no threat of looking past Indiana Saturday, he added.
“Our goal is to win the next game. That’s our goal. It doesn't seem like a very good idea to look ahead,” he said.
… “We’ve scouted teams playing that particular week that Indiana had played, and we see how good Indiana is. We’ve had three out of three very competitive games with them the last three years, two overtime and one 10-point game here in Ann Arbor. We understand it’s a very good team. They score a lot of points on offense, are very good on defense, nothing easy on special teams.”
He’s confident his team gets the message.
“The guys have been focused week after week, practice really hard. It’s a good bunch to coach,” he said. “They enjoy each other’s company. All good things there. They work hard and are a very intense, focused group.”
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