Michigan tight end Colston Loveland played in 18 snaps in last week's win over Arkansas State. He exited the game after just one play in the second half, and he was in street clothes before the game was over.

Of course, the junior tight end entered the season as the unquestioned top target in the passing attack, and through three games in 2024, that preseason expectation has held true. Loveland's 187 receiving yards through three games more than triples the closest Wolverine pass-catcher (Semaj Morgan, 56 yards).

But with Loveland's status for Saturday's big-time matchup against USC still undecided, Michigan is preparing its younger tight ends for potential increased roles on Saturday. Michigan tight ends coach Steve Casula met with reporters on Wednesday to discuss Loveland's status.

According to Casula's roundabout answer, Loveland has been — at least in some capacity — an active participant in practice this week.

"Everybody in our program that's not dealing with a season-ending injury or an upper body head injury of some sort, they practice every day," Casula said. "So that can look a lot of different ways for a lot of different players, whether dealing with an injury or not. But yeah, everyone on our team that isn't out for the season or possibly dealing with a concussion or something like that, yeah, practice every day."

Loveland actively participating in practice is clearly good news for the Wolverines, but the staff remains noncommittal as to whether the star tight end will play on Saturday.

"We're not in the business of like prognosticating or predicting the availability of players relative to their health," Casula said. "We're just kind of taking it one minute at a time, one hour at a time, one day at a time. You know, 3:30 Saturday's still a ways away if you look at it like that. So, kind of try to avoid predicting someone's availability in that respect."

Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore did reveal on Monday's 'Inside Michigan Football' radio show that Loveland's injury is "less serious" than the team initially expected, but the staff remains committed to letting the doctors make the final call ahead of Saturday's top-20 matchup in Ann Arbor.

Should Loveland not be active, Casula has full confidence in the likes of Marlin Klein, who caught three passes for 43 yards last week, and Hogan Hansen, who hauled in his first reception and touchdown in Saturday's win.

"Well, I think it's like anything else. There's a reason that we've got more than one guy at every position. If you look back in years past, across not just the tight end position but any position, when called upon, players have been ready here. That speaks to the football culture that exists here. The level at which systems are taught and installed. The level at which people train and develop. And you know, in any given moment, I think maybe sometimes there's a misconception that the only people that practice are the guys that play every snap over on Main Street. Well, on State Street, everybody's practicing. Everybody's playing. Everybody's prepared to execute the game plan. And if and when that were to be something we were to deal with, not just at tight end, but at any position, we feel confident about our talent and depth at each position."

Of anyone on Michigan's roster, though, Casula says Loveland would be the first player Michigan would put on the field on minimal practice throughout the week, which could be the case for Saturday's game against No. 11 USC.

"If there's a guy we're going to let roll, man, it'd be him. He's played a lot of football for us."

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