ANN ARBOR, Mich. — It didn’t take long, but Michigan football went from being an extremely healthy team to one that’s extremely banged up.
The Wolverines were pretty much at full strength against USC in Week 4, but entering and leaving Week 5 against Minnesota was a different story entirely.
Will Johnson and Josaiah Stewart were injured against the Trojans. Myles Hinton, the starting left tackle, was injured this past weekend against the Gophers. Head coach Sherrone Moore was confident, however, that they, along with wide receiver Semaj Morgan, will all be back this week for the trip to Seattle to face Washington.
“Yeah, they’re all working through something,” Moore said. “Myles (is) working through something, came out of the game, probably could have went back in, but held them out. And Josaiah and Will look like they’ll be in good shape for this week.”
Another player who left last week’s game against Minnesota was safety Makari Paige. Given that Rod Moore, Wesley Walker, and Jaden Mangham were all unavailable, that meant that the Wolverines were really starting to dig into the bench at the safety position. Though second-year safety Brandyn Hillman came in and played well with Paige out, behind him, there’s little that’s good to go on at the position.
However, Moore expects that Paige will be fine to make the trip to Seattle and play against the Huskies.
“He’ll be good,” Moore said. “I think he’s just working through something, and he’ll be in good shape to go.”
Moore did clarify on some of the others who haven’t played. He says that cornerback Ja’Den McBurrows may be a little more long-term but Walker should be back soon and that Mangham isn’t injured, he’s dealing with something off the field.
“McBurrows will be out,” Moore said. “Mangham, he’s working through something off the field. He could possibly come back. (Walker is) working through something, but he’s not long-term, no.”
Michigan and Washington are set to kick off at Husky Stadium at 4:30 p.m. PDT with the game nationally broadcast on NBC.