Michigan has returned to practice after cancelling Saturday's game with Maryland due to COVID concerns, but several sources still believe U-M's game scheduled for Dec. 12 in Columbus is a long shot.

No team other than OSU, which had to cancel a Nov. 28 game with Illinois, has played a week after missing a game due to COVID protocols. The Buckeyes thrashed Michigan State in East Lansing, 52-12, despite being down several players.

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U-M head coach Jim Harbaugh met with his team Monday and the Wolverines returned to practice, with the hopes of practicing Tuesday, as well. However, the program canceled Monday player and coach availability and sources have said the team is practicing in helmets only.

"Medical has cleared the team to begin limited workouts," Michigan football spokesman Dave Ablauf said Monday afternoon.

Monday was the earliest U-M could return to practice after pausing all in-person football activities last week due to a COVID outbreak.

“I like to see a good two to three days of us trending in the right direction before we feel comfortable getting people back together," Dr. Sami Rifat, Michigan's Medical Director, said last week. "We are, I feel, incredibly responsive. We have a great deal of support across the university, so we get this information, it seems like in real time ... so I feel like we’re able to act quickly and hopefully mitigate spread.

"When it’s safe to go back, we hope to act quickly in that, as well.”

Harbaugh noted during last week's news conference that the decision on whether or not to play rests with the medical staff.

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