Harbaugh on Mone return: "It's possible"

"It's possible" is the bookend to "He's working through something"  Together, they keep Harbaugh's personnel issues concealed from the opposition.

If Mone can make any kind of impact I say you play him.  The Ohio State line and Barrett and Elliott are coming to town, and regardless of outcome they need all the bodies against them.  Not being able to stop the run is my worst nightmare, especially since I trust the secondary to fight at this point, but the front seven has to give them a chance.

Fantastic...

1. If he does play and chaos ensues, he could end up playing a maximum of five games, which is almost half of a regular season.  That's not an insignificant amount of games.

2. Prepare for the Harbaugh bashers who'll bring up Pipkins and other guys he wanted to medical and claim that he's rushing Mone back before he's healed up.  I'm sure Drew Sharp already has a column lined up for it once he wakes from his nap.

against OSU AND that game would be for a spot in the B10 championship, I'd say play him.  Given, the nature of his injury and his position, I'd be skeptical that will be realistic.  Even if he was able to play in the bowl game, unless that is one of the playoff games, I'd say don't burn the redshirt. 

If he has been practicing including contact for at least a week its worth it.  If his first contact this year would be a game it sounds like a really bad idea from a rehab perspective and it seems like the staff would be putting winning above Mone's future health. As a competitive guy you know Mone is going to want to be out there so its up to the coaching and medical staff to make sure the right decision is being made medically and not just from a competitive standpoint. 

Would love to know if he has been participating in contact drills yet.

Whether this is to happen or not everyone else needs to step up. The performance of the defense was lackluster at best. This was not because of one player being out on the line. With playing a pro style offense this week I see a resurgence of the defense.

A garden variety broken ankle fibula takes 4-8 weeks to heal with some PT after that. Given that its been over two months and we're talking about a young gifted athlete who's getting the best treatment I'd say its possible he may return.

Rashan Gary enroll before Saturday?

I'd think he'd have to play this week if you bring him back for this season at all. Bringing back a guy who hasn't played a down all year against OSU does not sound fun at all

This is such a tough call....I think you have him ready to go in in the second half of this week's game. If its close and the DLine is flagging, you gotta use whoever you have available to try and win the game and make The Game for the division. But Penn State also isn't that great and its possible that a more game-ready Godin might be good enough against PSU's below average offensive line. If its a blowout at the half, let Mone sit and then play it the same way the next way against OSU.

And then, after I typed that paragraph, I realized the attitude should probably be "Fuck it, if he can go and help the team win, put him in". Better he get the reps this week and be ready for OSU in two. 

Dunno though. 

And there is no doubt that the loss of Ryan Glasgow is major. But he didn't play EVERY down before his injury, and the DL wasn't nearly as porous as it was on Saturday on pre-injury downs when he wasn't in there. So, perhaps Saturday's performance is an abberation, or we're not giving enough credit to Indiana's OL or coaching.

Does this effect any possible redshirt? Is he burning a year to play 2-4 games?

This is an easy one. If A) he is completely healed and there is no chance of reinjury; and B) he is in a condition resembling game-ready shape and can play 20+ snaps, you play him. Otherwise, no.

Here's definitely a case where it'd be nice to be a fly on the wall. I'm sure there's a ton of variables the coaches are sorting through.

• What do Mone's doctors say? If any risk, he shouldn't play.
• What does Mone say? If he doesn't feel ready, he shouldn't play.
• Is he practicing? If he hasn't practiced at all, he shouldn't play.
• How is he doing in practice? If he isn't a significant improvement over others, he shouldn't play.
• How is game going against PSU? If that game happens to be in hand without him, he shouldn't play.
• How is game going against Ohio State? If that game happens to be in hand without him, he shouldn't play.
• How is game going against Iowa? If that game happens to be in hand without him, he shouldn't play.
• How is Glasgow? If for some reason he comes back, Mone shouldn't play.

If the doctors give the green light, Mone wants to play, is practicing, is doing well in practice, Glasgow is definitely out for the season, and Mone would make a significant difference in any of our remaining games, well he obviously should play. That's an awful lot of conditions that have to be met before Mone even sniffs at going out on the field.

If he's 100% healthy and ready to go, and he's in game shape, why the hell not? We're fighting for a chance to play for a championship and we need all the help we can get.

If he's not ready, then sit him until he's healthy, but if he's healthy and he can contribute, then I can't see Harbaugh keeping him out.

.....

But I think this is Jim trollin'.

a big decision for Mone personally.

 

As a program, I would wait to see if OSU puts MSU away before making the call.  If we are playing OSU for all the marbles, and Mone is healthy, AND he's willing to cash in a whole year of eligibility to play for a Big Ten title, then go for it. 

I'll eat my hat if Mone takes any more than 10% of the snaps from here on out. I just don't think you can expect a guy who hasn't played at all since before camp to come in and be effective against PSU and OSU's lines. We might need him as a body in the rotation, but I won't expect him to make a difference, even if he does play. I like Mone, but I can't believe that he would be any better than Godin or Strobel, who are in midseason form.

but not probable.  

If we were in the playoff hunt, then sure.  But we have two losses.  I don't think we make the final four even if we do win out. 

in the eyes of most, we overachieved this year.  We are still favored against PSU and we're going to play an OSU team that hasn't played a ranked team all season.  I like our chances even without Mone. 

I doubt JH risks Mone's career with only 4 games at most on the schedule.

He's not even on the depth chart and we've all heard JH drone on about "fair competition".  If this were really a consideration, i would imagine he would be on the depth chart at least. 

 

He's gotta be ready, able, and willing in order for this to be a possibility.  But if all three of those conditions have been satisfied I think you'd be crazy not to play him with a possible Big Ten title on the line, to say nothing of an outside shot at the playoff.

Why are Henry and Hurst unable to hold up in the middle?

They probably can hold up the middle. Though with no good relief guys, I believe IU just wore them out with tempo and a big bruising RB.

So...ITS HAPPENING?

I do think there is a chance. As much as harbaugh makes flipant remakes he also shuts shit down. I think the probabaly is probably very very slim though. At the end of the day Mone isn't going to play 4 more years anyway so if he is healthy I would bet he would want to play.

Who knows but I would imagine "it's possible" means at least a discusion was had or will be had even if it wasn't that serious.

Someone else had a great post about conditioning and such and made some great points. I'm an athletic trainer (worked at BG when urban meyer was there) and it sounds like it was a basic fracture with no "difficult" issues around it. As far as pure strength and conditioning they could keep Mone going pretty strong in that regard pretty fast and if he worked hard he could be ready.

BUT...there is a difference between game shape and being in just great shape. That's why I think if he is going to play you need him to play against PSU. Get his feet under him, work on technique in a real live game. I think he has enough raw talent to work on technique in a live big game without being a liability and in fact being an asset even at 80% (not 80% healthy I mean 80% shape/performance he should not come back unless 100% healthy)

I will say I have seen this. We had a guy at BG who broke his leg in early august and came back like week 9. He was off about 11 weeks. He kept hitting upper body hard the whole time and really from week four he was hardcore workign out (which actually helps bone healing).

He was a DT and came back and performed well.