Denard sprained something in his rotator cuff; it gets aggravated or sore when you fall on it. Worried about the big guys falling on him more than anything. He's not as hurt as Tate was last year, and should be good with a week off. "Hypothetically, we won't talk," but Denard would probably be good to start if there was a game this weekend. He's still the team's starter, despite Tate's solid play on Saturday.
- Fitz should practice this week, Mike Martin and David Molk should be ready for PSU, both need the week off to heal. Shaw has been limited but hopes to ready to play as well.
- No practice on Monday and Tuesday while the kids are on Fall Break. Team needs the rest and the freshman might have hit a bit of a "wall"
"Carvin Johnson we thought did some good things at Spur." With Mike Martin's injury, Adam Patterson got a chance to step up and he did well.
On offense, they need to fix execution issues that lead to turnovers. "On defense, certainly the same thing. The same issues with execution and making sure we do that." On ST, kicking and returns have been bad, other units solid. "We've got a couple guys I think could be pretty good returners, we just haven't given them a chance."
The defensive staff all knows the issues, "I think they've talked about it at length, I know they have because I've talked with them." The players still believe in it. The team is close to playing good defense outside of a couple plays a game "but those two plays count." Need to work on some basics defensively, tackling, getting off blocks, etc. Will work on understanding scheme, which helps guys play faster. At times, tackling has been OK.
More from Tim at Mgoblog at the above link.................
- Michigan loses a big basketball recruit to St. Johns: Report: Dominick Pointer to St. Johns. The "word" was that Dominick's family wanted him to go to Michigan. I guess he didn't.
- Update: Looks like Big Will maybe headed to the offensive side of the ball: "He could possibly (move), he's not playing much on defense," Rodriguez said Tuesday. "He's got a couple pretty good guys in front of him (Martin and Patterson). I don't know if it's possible to switch and learn the position from one side of the ball to the other that quickly. That's hard to do. We'll probably talk about him tomorrow."
"He's got to get better technique-wise (on defense) and getting off blocks," Rodriguez said. "He may be better suited to play offensive guard, we don't know yet, but we're going to talk about it. He's got a great attitude and he's willing to work and do whatever to help the team." This is not a good update on Big Will who has struggled since becoming a Wolverine over a year ago. He clearly is having trouble on the defensive line and Michigan is deep on the offensive side of the ball. He also gave up a field goal block as the Iowa defender pushed him back on special teams. For those that are wondering, 2010 defensive lineman Jonathan Hankins who picked Ohio State over Michigan last year, is getting a lot of playing time for the Buckeyes.
- TomVH comes in with his weekly recruiting update: Dallas Crawford still has Michigan listed #1 after his visit this week but keep an eye on Miami. 2012 prospect from Toledo, Chris Wormley got his Michigan offer last weekend. He is going to be highly ranked in the 2012 class and comes in at 6'4", 255 lbs at DE. The Illinois game now looks like the big Dr. Phillips visit weekend. DT Kevin McReynolds (6'2", 280 lbs, 4 Star) is now interested in Michigan.
- Michigan transfer Vlad Emilien has decided to enroll at Colorado. I wish him luck and hope his knee is better. Maybe he can room with Toney Clemons.
- Ray Ball a Michigan offensive line recruit has committed to Wisconsin.
- Brian at Mgoblog looks at Michigan's important next few games against: PSU, Illinois, and Purdue. Please win at least two but Michigan really needs all 3.
