ANN ARBOR, Mich. — After a full offseason when there have been touted defensive backs, new and old, fans got something of an unexpected look on Saturday when Michigan football trotted out some other faces in Week 1 than what was maybe anticipated back in the spring.
The idea was that we’d see the two usual starting safeties, Rod Moore and Makari Paige, nickel Mike Sainristil, and corners Will Johnson and Amorion Walker. But the Wolverines only had two of the above, Paige and Sainristil, play at all, and even Paige was limited. Instead, we saw Keon Sabb and Zeke Berry mostly at safety, transfer cornerback Josh Wallace and former walk-on Keshaun Harris working the other corner spot.
There was a lot of excitement about Walker, particularly, in the spring, especially when Jim Harbaugh and his fellow coaches referred to him as ‘a unicorn’ after switching him from wide receiver to defensive back. But Walker has been seen walking on crutches since relatively early in fall camp and hasn’t been available to practice since sustaining his injury.
However, his position coach, Steve Clinkscale, has been impressed with his attitude and demeanor as he’s working back to health, noting that his approach should help him be even better once he is able to get back onto the field.
“Well, Amorion is a special talent — we all know that,” Clinkscale said. “But what I see for him now — so spring doesn’t matter, this summer doesn’t matter. What I see for him now is he’s locked in. He’s in here. He’s not able to practice, but he’s watching film, he’s taking notes — you should see his notes. I take his notes and show them to everybody. He’s taking notes like he’s — everything. If I burp, he writes down burp.
“He’s taking notes, he’s listening to everything. He’s being a sponge, and that’s what you want from your players. If they’re not able to do it physically, do it mentally, right? And that way, now when a younger guy wants to talk to him, he can give them the right answer.
“So I’ve been proud of him about how he’s handled this. It’s not been an emotional deal where you can disappear, you don’t see him while he’s injured. He’s here every day all the time. We text and communicate every day. So I think that when he does come back, it’ll help him just kind of just catapult to where he was and maybe even surpass it. So looking forward to big things from all those guys. I think they’ve done a great job.”
What about the other defensive backs, safety Rod Moore and cornerback Will Johnson? Both dressed on Saturday, but neither played.
Jim Harbaugh said both were close and could potentially play this upcoming week against UNLV, but wasn’t definitive in his assessment. However, Clinkscale said both practiced on Monday and could be ready to go against the Rebels at 3:30 p.m. EDT.
“Yeah, they’re getting closer and closer every day,” Clinkscale said. “I kind of stay out of the training room with them, so when they’re out there on the field, I coach them. Yesterday, they were both at practice, so that was awesome. They’re getting closer and closer every day, they’re feeling —
“The big thing with those guys and having the issues that they have is not to rush them back, to make sure they’re comfortable, especially when you’re a DB and you’re out on the island, you rush the guy back too fast, it can really set him back a little bit. So I think coach has done a great job and our training staff has done a great job with bringing those guys back the way they need to be right on time. Not too fast, not too slow. So I’m excited about seeing them out there this year.
“I think having Makari for a few plays last week made a big difference, help some of those young guys kind of get their feet wet with an older guy, with a veteran out there on the field with a physical player on the field. And he kind of set the tone. And then I let the rest of the guys play the rest of the game. So getting those guys closer and closer will help us get them a few plays here and there until they’re 100% ready.”