Moore Provides Update On McKeon, Pleased With Eubanks' Blocking Progression
There haven’t been a whole lot of surprises surrounding the tight end spot for the Michigan Wolverines’ football team so far this season, with senior Sean McKeon’s health status being the main topic of debate as of late.
McKeon was injured in the Sept. 21 loss at Wisconsin and hasn’t played in the two games since. Despite missing the last two contests, the senior’s two touchdown grabs are tied for the team lead and his 96 yards check in fifth most on the club.
“We’ll see how it goes today,” tight ends coach Sherrone Moore said when asked if McKeon has returned to practice yet.
“He’s been by my side whenever he’s not in treatment — I’ll turn and he’ll be there, and I’ll be like, ‘What are you doing?’ ‘I’m going to watch practice,’ he says.
“Sean knows what’s going on and there won’t be any drop off once he steps back onto the field, because he’ll know exactly what to do.”
Redshirt junior Nick Eubanks has become the primary contributor at the position in McKeon’s absence, playing a career-best 58 snaps on Saturday against Iowa and 54 the week before in the win over Rutgers.
Eubanks has always been known for his receiving abilities (12 catches for 114 yards on the year), but Moore stated in fall camp that they were still expecting more from the veteran in the blocking department.
“Nick has obviously had an increased role with Sean out, and has had to do some things on the line,” the 33-year old explained.
“Nick had never really done that before. I’m very proud of what he’s done these last couple games, though he can still get better with his technique and fundamentals.
“Nick puts in the extra work after practice, and he’s progressing and getting better.”
Whether or not the offense as a whole is ‘progressing and getting better’ is another debate, though head coach Jim Harbaugh has stated multiple times this week that the unit is ‘hitting its stride.’
Moore was asked this afternoon to give his take on the matter as a whole, and explained what the 11 offensive starters need to do to get the offensive attack to perform at an appropriate level.
“Our guys just continue to work, and their faith and belief is what’s driving this home,” he said. “Consistency and making sure everyone is doing their job on each play [is the key to more explosive plays].
“It only takes one person to kill a play, and on defense it only takes one guy to make a play. It’s about everyone doing their job at the same time, and we can see that starting to click with guys now getting healthy and coming back.”
Notes
• Redshirt freshman tight end Mustapha Muhammad appears to be behind McKeon, Eubanks, freshman Erick All and redshirt freshman Luke Schoonmaker on the depth chart, and has only received seven snaps the entire season.
“Just keep working and continue his knowledge of the playbook, technique and fundamentals," Moore explained when asked what Muhammad needs to do to see the field more.
"He needs to continue working and make sure he keeps getting better.”
• Moore spent all of last season on the sidelines during games, but has moved up into the press box this time around. Plenty has been made about offensive coordinator Josh Gattis' transition from the booth to the field following the Wisconsin loss, and Moore was asked to differentiate between the two.
"It’s something I’ve done before — I’ve done both box and down, so it doesn’t matter to me," he revealed. "I’ll do whatever is best for the team — I do like being down on the field to look into the guys’ eyes, but I can also hear their voices over the phone from up there.
"You can just see so much from in the booth, including all 22 guys at every moment and how things are unfolding. I’m constantly hearing their input over the phone as soon as they get off the field, so I can hear what they’re doing and what they think they have to do next.
"It’s a little bit quieter up there [without Gattis] because he'd get a little excited, but he was actually pretty calm up in the box; it’s a good environment. Josh has been down on the field his whole career and sees it better from down there, so he gets the feel of how to call it.
"I can relay stuff down to him, so that has been helpful.”
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