The injury report was just released for the Michigan Wolverines ahead of their game this afternoon against Illinois, and two key pieces to the defensive line have been ruled out. Expect a heavy dose of Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant today:
The last time we saw the Michigan Wolverines in action — two weeks ago at Washington — the team was dealing with a ton of injuries. Eleven players were sat out that game, per the injury report, and another three were listed as questionable.
This week is more of the same, unfortunately. There are some new names on the injury report, and also a new designation for one of the players who was injured a few weeks back. Here is what the report looks like today heading into a crucial top-25 matchup at Illinois.
Out
- S Jaden Mangham
- LB Micah Pollard
- S Rod Moore
- DT Enow Etta
- CB Ja’Den McBurrows (season)
- RB Jordan Marshall
- DT Rayshaun Benny
- RB Leon Franklin
- RB Bryson Kuzdzal
Questionable
- CB Aamir Hall
- LB Jimmy Rolder
- OL Myles Hinton
There are a couple new developments here — cornerback Ja’Den McBurrows is now being considered out for the season, which is bad news for an already struggling secondary.
Defensive tackles Enow Etta and Rayshaun Benny are newcomers on the injury report and were available for the last game against UW. This is obviously not great for defensive line depth, so you should expect a heavy dose of Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant today.
Meanwhile, linebacker Jimmy Rolder, left tackle Myles Hinton and cornerback Aamir Hall were all out for the UW game, so it’s a bit reassuring to see them upgraded to questionable.
Most notably off the injury report is edge rusher Derrick Moore, who also missed the UW game two weeks ago. Cornerback Will Johnson is also cleared from the injury report after being deemed questionable two weeks back. Finally, center Dominick Giudice is also off the report and could play in this game, as long as he isn’t leapfrogged by Greg Crippen on the depth chart, who had a pretty solid game against UW.
Michigan vs. Illinois kicks off at 3:30 p.m. on CBS.