What We Learned: Patterson Healing, Ambry Thomas' Miraculous Comeback, More
Several Michigan players met the media Monday before this weekend's game at Wisconsin. Here's what we learned ...
Redshirt junior tight end Nick Eubanks and senior offensive guard Ben Bredeson were both in agreement that senior quarterback Shea Patterson is looking really good and recovering nicely from the oblique injury he suffered in week one, on the opening carry of the Middle Tennessee State game. Patterson fumbled the ball and got hit at the same time — he looked shaky in the second half and for much of the Army game (tentative), but he rebounded nicely.
"Yes ... for sure," Eubanks said when asked if the bye week had been good for Patterson's health.
"He's one of the most resilient guys I know," Bredeson said when asked about his quarterback's state of mind.
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Bredeson noted they'd been watching film on Wisconsin much of the week, and they're confident they can win.
"Schematically, a lot of what they do is the same as last year," he said when asked to compare. "They have a few new guys in there on the d-line and linebacker..."
But he's extremely confident in the game plan and believes they have a great plan for the running game. Eubanks, too, said he loved what he saw from the game plan and what they'd have to counter some of what Wisconsin likes to do defensively.
They understand they aren't getting a lot of respect, and they don't care. All of their goals are still in front of them, and it's Big Ten title or bust. They also don't seem overwhelmed by Wisconsin's big start.
"They put their pads on just like we do," Eubanks said.
Bredeson said they spent the better part of the week cleaning up plays they missed against Army.
"It was one little thing on every play," Bredeson noted, insisting there were many explosive plays left on the field against the Black Knights. Eubanks gave Army a ton of credit, too, noting how hard each of those guys played on every snap and that many people underestimated them.
"We knew they were going to play like that," he said.
Bredeson said getting junior receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones back (he's expected to play — we saw him walking into the building looking good) would be huge.
"He puts fear into defensive backfields," he said. "When you have that option to throw to with his explosiveness being able to make somebody miss and maybe turn a seven-yard catch into a 70-yard catch, that's something that's always big for an offense."
Getting Jon Runyan Jr. back, too, will be big.
"Having played next to him for over a year, we know what each other are going to do," he said (paraphrasing). "It's almost telepathic."
He was quick to point out that redshirt frosh Ryan Hayes did a great job, too, but Runyan's experience will be big at a place like Wisconsin.
Finally, Bredeson was pleased that walk-ons Andrew Vastardis and Jess Speight got scholarships. Vastardis, he said, is one of the five hardest working guys on the team, always sprinting until the end of plays and has really become a team favorite.
Speaking of team favorites ... Ambry Thomas certainly became one when he earned defensive MVP honors in his first game. We told you in the summer they might flirt with moving Daxton Hill to corner because one player was down. It was Thomas with colitis, and it was so bad that doctors told him his chances of playing this season were "slim to none."
They were even preaching redshirt right up until the first game, he said ... and then he went out and killed it, picking off a pass and recovering a fumble.
Thomas lost 35 pounds and was in the hospital for weeks. He was depressed, he admitted, and did a lot of praying.
"My prayers were answered," he said, noting the doctors said they'd never seen anything like his recovery.
But he's back and better than ever and excited to play the Badgers.
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