Michigan football hasn't been particularly banged up but coming off Saturday's loss to Iowa, the Wolverines have a few people to worry about.
There have been some unexpected injuries, such as right tackle Andrew Sprague and edge rusher Dom Nichols, who either haven't played or have been on the injury report. Nichols played last week, while Sprague has missed two weeks. On top of that, the Wolverines have had other injuries, including rhino Manuel Beigel, offensive tackle Andrew Babalola, and edge rusher John Henry Daley -- who got injured on the penultimate play of the Iowa game -- who have been banged up.
On Monday, head coach Kyle Whittingham said he isn't sure exactly where his team is in regard to injuries but should know more midweek.
"Updates,
not definitive updates for their availability this week," Whittingham said. "It's still early in the week, obviously. And so we'll just have to take it day by day at this point. Should have by Wednesday, I think, a much clearer -- I think that's the first day that Big Ten injury report comes out. So that'll coincide with when we have a pretty good handle on it."
The offensive line is particularly banged up, with Blake Frazier having left the game for a few snaps against the Hawkeyes. With him, Sprague, and Babalola out, the Wolverines had to turn to true freshman Marky Walbridge. Even still, the staff is looking to figure out how it can contend with what's been a makeshift offensive line -- one that looked solid against Iowa, but hasn't exactly been able to field a consistent five or six.
But Whittingham had some good news, noting that Babalola is soon to return, being a week out from practicing once again.
"We're down Andrew, like I said," Whittingham said on the Inside Michigan Football radio show. "Babalola was showing great promise before he had the setback. And so that's very unfortunate. I guess the good news there is he will start practicing again one week from today. So we'll get him back in the fold.
"But if something happened to either Blake or Evan on the other side, or if Blake can't play this week, then Marky's next up. And as far as that goes, we also have the luxury of possibly moving Brady out, Brady Norton out to tackle, and putting in another inside three guy. So there's a few combinations that we can look at, but hopefully Blake will be OK, and he'll be ready to roll for practice tomorrow. But that's yet to be determined."
Michigan will travel to Minneapolis for its first road game of the season on Saturday, when it plays at Minnesota. Kickoff is set for noon EDT and the game will be broadcast on Fox.
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Kyle Whittingham gives Michigan injury updates before Minnesota game
