RR update on injuries and more!
"Unfortunately for us, Will Heininger tore his ACL in practice last week, so he will have surgery," Rodriguez announced. "His availability for this coming season will depend on rehab. He may be able to come back late September or October, we don't know yet. He was having a really good spring, so that's unfortunate." "The news was better on a few others. Receiver Martavious Odoms has been out, as has Junior Hemingway (since the beginning of spring), but both were expected to contribute more at Tuesday's practice and be full go by the end of the week. Receiver Je'Ron Stokes was expected back by the end of the week and was also expected to contribute Tuesday." "Vladimir Emilien, Quinton Washington and Jared Van Slyke are still out," said Rodriguez. "We're hoping maybe we can get some work out of them next week. David Molk, Brandon Herron, Mike Martin, Vincent Smith, all those guys [out for the spring] are right on schedule with rehab, so we feel good about that part."More stuff here at the link: as MGOShoe summarizes: * The practice schedule and how Spring is progressing * The QB battle including... ^ Whether he wants one guy to win the job ^ Areas where DRob is improving ^ Gardner's growth * Evaluations of RBs: Cox, Shaw, Toussaint, Hopkins and White http://michigan.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1071564
I think this has been covered before. However, it's a shame that this had to happen to him. Hopefully he has a speedy recovery.
http://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/will-heininger-injury
Raback had a nice write up on it too. Obviously we'd prefer to have a scholarship player at his position, but he has filled in nicely.
A side note: Ever notice how injured players are always having a 'Really Good Spring'?
This came up free for me
What does this mean as far as our DL depth?
hurt. But I think it's been discussed that if we are switching (a majority of the time) to a 3-3-5 that this could be a lot worse for the D. With Van Bergen, Martin, Campbell, and even Banks and Sagesse stepping up we should have a little bit of depth. I'm personally hoping Lalota comes along this spring and summer and proves to be a viable backup option also.
We haven't heard much on Lalota, I always thought he would be an instant impact kind of guy - but he's gone under the radar so far.
Lalota was very, very raw when he came to Michigan. Very undersized for DE and had only played 2 years of organized football. I don't expect him to contribute for another year or two.
What made you think he was an instant impact kind of guy?
I knew he didn't have much experience, but based on his rankings, ignorantly I guess, I thought with his pure athletic ability and natural size that he should have been able to come into a thin defense and get in there - at least on special teams or something - and make an impact. I obviously gave up on that last year - but I thought we would hear at least something about him this year, but like I said it's been pretty quiet.
In Brian's post about him - he even kinda says the same thing:
http://mgoblog.com/content/2009-recruiting-anthony-lalota
"Projection: LaLota showing up 30 pounds light might actually be a boon for his chances at early playing time, as he's slotted into this spinner position and, given his athleticism, seems like an excellent fit for the spot. Still, he's so new to the game a redshirt seems likely, and preferable."
Lalota hasn't been running with the one's but the coaches have been very impressed by him so far in the spring.
Go Blue!
Ha.. I'm an idiot... the title is about injuries and you said we need more.. I'm like, "what?"
Go Blue
is it me or do we already have a rash of injuries?
Yeah, to start off there were a lot of guys that went down. Hemmingway, Odoms and Vlad were pretty bad to have out this spring. There haven't been much since the start of spring, until now.
Nice to see Touissaint getting some props.
...the content of the article was way, way undersold. Click on the link (it is not behind the paywall) for Rodriguez's thoughts on:
* The practice schedule and how Spring is progressing
* The QB battle including...
^ Whether he wants one guy to win the job
^ Areas where DRob is improving
^ Gardner's growth
* Evaluations of RBs: Cox, Shaw, Toussaint, Hopkins and White
[Ed. All this and more covered in Tim's front page story.]
How many times are you going to edit this, hail2thevict0r? 3 and counting.
haha, well 3 to be exact.
The first one was to make it not a double post.
The second one was to add the stuff said that wasn't about injuries.
and the third was to make the blockquotes.
RichRod believes in this guy:
"More than anything, he's understanding the offense, particularly in the passing game - where he should look with the ball and reading defenses. He understands our concepts pretty well, but this is his first spring practice. When you get there in August for the first time, you're just trying to get ready for a game plan. Once the game starts, you lose some of the fundamental stuff. You really work hard on fundamentals, and he still has a ways to go, but he's a talented, talented guy. He loves to play. He is very, very explosive, so you've got to have an opportunity to touch the ball - obviously, if you're a quarterback you're going to touch it every play.
"We're going to continue with him in that position. As we go forward, he'll be able to play the other skill positions offensively."
I find it very refreshing that such a debate is possible. What's not debatable is that Denard has super freakish physical skills and riding the pine makes no sense.