Good News! Drake Johnson may play tomorrow
Harbaugh says Drake may play agaisnt Oregon State. Article contains other snippets too.
Helmet Stickers:
“I’ve always felt you should try to get the best grades, win the most awards and excel at sports,” Harbaugh said Thursday. “It’s an award, so try to win the most awards.”
EDIT: Multiple sources reporting that Drake is in fact clear to play. Green moved to the scout team.September 11th, 2015 at 10:08 AM ^
Thanks to Brian's preview this year I immediately refer to him as "The Flamingo" in my head now.
MIchigan needs The Flamingo.
September 11th, 2015 at 10:12 AM ^
Want to see some good moves out of the running backs in finding the holes that the line creates and Drake gives us a great shot at that!
September 11th, 2015 at 10:14 AM ^
8 carries - 466 yards - 9 touchdowns. #Hot take
September 11th, 2015 at 10:22 AM ^
September 11th, 2015 at 10:23 AM ^
the 9th TD comes on a pick six after we move him to corner for a couple of possessions.
September 11th, 2015 at 12:02 PM ^
September 11th, 2015 at 10:58 AM ^
or kickoff return from the back of the endzone.
September 11th, 2015 at 10:37 AM ^
Wouldn't they have him go for 500 yards at that point?
September 11th, 2015 at 8:38 PM ^
Give him a break, it is first game back from injury.
September 11th, 2015 at 8:58 PM ^
September 11th, 2015 at 11:26 AM ^
What can I say? The kid is just a winner.
September 11th, 2015 at 10:14 AM ^
Honestly, the Drake comment is kind of diminished by the Shane Morris comment. Of course in some circumstance Shane Morris MIGHT be put in the game. But realistically is he going to be put in barring injury? A firm no. Good to hear that Drake seems to be getting healthy, but to me this sounds like Harbaugh's just trying to keep his cards close to his chest. I expect another 2 weeks before we see Drake. Hopefully I'm wrong :)
September 11th, 2015 at 10:19 AM ^
September 11th, 2015 at 10:21 AM ^
Harbaugh is anticipating Shane getting some garbage time snaps on this one.
September 11th, 2015 at 2:23 PM ^
September 11th, 2015 at 11:11 AM ^
September 11th, 2015 at 12:35 PM ^
I haven't seen enough of Harbaugh to really know what he would do. But from my perspective, the high-turnover-rate version of Jake Rudock still gives us a better chance to win than Morris.
September 11th, 2015 at 2:58 PM ^
None of us has any idea how Morris would look on the field this year. I hope Rudock succeeds and we don't have to find out, but if Morris does make it onto the field, I don't expect him to look at all like last year's version.
September 11th, 2015 at 10:16 AM ^
Please stay healthy all season.
Please stay healthy all season.
Please stay healthy all season.
September 11th, 2015 at 10:20 AM ^
Probably not though. He's coming off his second ligament tear in 2 years. We should be able to beat a team like Oregon State at home without rushing him back. We're going to need him for conference play, particularly on October 17th. I don't see us having any chance against MSU if Drake is sidelined with an injury again.
September 11th, 2015 at 10:26 AM ^
to use him only sparingly until The Game. Sparty plays dirty; someone will go after his knee intentionally.
September 11th, 2015 at 11:01 AM ^
Come on, now. MSU wouldn't try to injur an opposing player to improve their odds of victory. Dantonio runs a clean program.
September 11th, 2015 at 11:23 AM ^
I was super pissed over that move. I really got angry.
Then, IIRC Lewan pulled the same $hit the next year.
September 11th, 2015 at 12:06 PM ^
Lewan's was bad, no excuse whatsoever, but Gholston did that to Denard when he was on top of him which is a lot more dangerous.
September 11th, 2015 at 11:37 AM ^
he used to have to scout team play dirty in the practices leading up to the MSU game. Late hits, scratching, biting, and everything else the team could expect from Staee. The players hated it at the time, but it prepared them for the game well.
Also, I'm all for easing Drake back into things. A couple carries here and there just to get his feet wet and familiar with the offense in a game setting.
September 11th, 2015 at 10:52 AM ^
for the B1G season. I'm no doctor--although I do play one on MGoBlog--but it seems to me that if he wasn't ready to go last week in a highly competitive game, that the way to get him ready for the B1G would be more rest/avoidance of aggravation this week.
Maybe he gets a play or two if he's really ready to start easing him back in?
September 11th, 2015 at 1:33 PM ^
if hes been repping at full speed and taking part in contact drills (and im pretty sure they removed his red jersey this summer) then hes likely ready for game action.
i agree the difference from week 1 to week 2 at this point - like 8-10 months post-op - should be marginal. if hes been on track and has not experienced any major setbacks, then cant imagine seeing meaningful changes in strength, endurance, stablitity, recovery, etc from week 36 to week 37 (or whatever he is).
maybe hes battling some tendinitis or issues with excess fluid where theyre periodically draining his knee (all fairly normal but depends on timetable)? or maybe coaches want him as fresh as possible for conference play so docs advised waiting until october?
regardless, cant imagine they wont ease him back in and monitor snaps so even if johnson plays, it should take time to build up to feature back reps (though id love to see quicker back carrying the load this weekend)
September 11th, 2015 at 11:15 AM ^
be hard enough for him to come back at all. It'll be even harder to be as effective as he was pre-injury. Of course, I"m hoping for the best, but two ACLtears is no joke.
September 11th, 2015 at 5:54 PM ^
According to the Mlive article I posted yesterday in the first thread on this topic he's probably been ready to play for a month but they've been cautious so hopefully there's already as little risk as there's going to be in getting back on the field.
http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/index.ssf/2015/09/jim_harbaugh_says_rb_…
"Harbaugh explained earlier this week that Johnson may have been able to fully return a month ago, but the team's medical staff wanted to be extra sure about Johnson's knee -- especially considering he's already had two major surgeries performed."
September 11th, 2015 at 10:22 AM ^
September 11th, 2015 at 10:23 AM ^
September 11th, 2015 at 10:26 AM ^
September 11th, 2015 at 11:23 AM ^
... Butt also admitted recently that, while he thought he was close to 100% last year, he only more recently came to realize that he wasn't fully recovered. My uneducated guess is 1.) that Drake isn't going to 100% at this point in the season, even if he's cleared for contact and gets carries, and 2.) Having a running back who's less than 100% will be harder to hide within the offense than having a top tight end who's less than 100%.
September 11th, 2015 at 11:47 AM ^
I'd say JMFR would say the same thing about coming back too early from an ACL tear. As any as we had in Hoke's time at Michigan, you have to look at his strength and conditioning program. I know Bellamy, Ryan, Butt, Pipkins, Drake X2, is there anyone else?
September 11th, 2015 at 8:33 PM ^
September 11th, 2015 at 12:04 PM ^
These are good points. I don't think Johnson will be 100% in his first game back and may not be 100% all year. But I think you can be "ready to play" without being 100%.
September 11th, 2015 at 10:41 AM ^
with being able to run in the spring. There was something I thought I read that Harbaugh was trying to get him to slow down. I'd agree with posters above about getting him in sparingly until we need him. I'd prefer him to get good playing time against Northwestern to be game ready for state. Looks like we will need to put up some points against state.
September 11th, 2015 at 12:01 PM ^
Should have just had him run behind our offensive line! Amirite?
I kid, I kid.
September 11th, 2015 at 11:14 AM ^
fanbase, Ty. Especially regarding the running game.
September 11th, 2015 at 10:24 AM ^
Whose carries does he take? If he's close to 100% he should get as many carries as Smith. Ty should be our #3 back. Green? I'm afraid Greens days wearinig Maize and Blue could be numbered.
September 11th, 2015 at 10:54 AM ^
before we write him off.
September 11th, 2015 at 11:10 AM ^
September 11th, 2015 at 11:44 AM ^
September 11th, 2015 at 12:09 PM ^
I grant you that it was only two carries, but Green looked the same on those two carries against Utah as he's always looked. I think the staff is correct to prioritize other backs.
September 11th, 2015 at 10:24 AM ^
Really hoping we dominate the line of scrimmage tomorrow and that Smith, Isaac and Green can handle the load. We need Johnson to keep healing, get more practice reps and eventually add a different dimension to our running game. I think of Drake as our X-factor when the schedule gets a bit tougher.
6 am flight out of Newark to DTW tomorrow morning. Can't wait!!!
September 11th, 2015 at 10:30 AM ^
September 11th, 2015 at 10:31 AM ^
