ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan football continues to have some injury concerns as the season progresses.
Cornerback Will Johnson has missed considerable stretches throughout the season and the Wolverines have now gone two straight games without starting left tackle Myles Hinton. Center Dominick Giudice was injured going into Week 6 but he was ultimately supplanted by Greg Crippen, who continues to play even now that Giudice appears to be healthy.
In terms of Johnson and Hinton, head coach Sherrone Moore was noncommittal about their chances to play against rival Michigan State on Saturday, but notes that Hinton looks likely to return to the lineup.
“I think we’ll see again this weekend,” Moore said. “Myles looks like he’s trending in a really good direction.”
Johnson wasn’t the only one to leave the game early against Illinois on Saturday. Tight end Marlin Klein, the nominal backup to Colston Loveland who tends to be on the field at the same time, left the game in the first half on a cart. However, it does appear that he isn’t suffering from what looks to be a long-term injury as Moore notes that there’s a chance that Klein returns to the lineup this week.
“Yeah, working through something. We’ll see what the doctor says, if he practices this week,” Moore said. “Think he’ll get back into it to tomorrow — probably tomorrow, Wednesday. But think he’ll be in a good place. But we’ll see.”
Michigan is without cornerback Ja’Den McBurrows for the season and safety Rod Moore is still working through a long-term injury after tearing his ACL in spring ball. Defensive tackle Rayshaun Benny — who has had his best year thus far — missed this past week and freshman running back Jordan Marshall has been out since early in the season.