Monday injury update: Michigan missing David Molk's 'tenacity' at center
Center David Molk continues to make progress in his recovery from a broken foot, but it still appears unlikely he'll play Saturday when Michigan visits Iowa.
Molk practiced snapping with trainers Sunday and worked out in the weight room Monday, but Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez wouldn’t budge on doctors' initial diagnosis that Molk would miss four to six weeks.
He suffered the injury in the first half of the Wolverines' Sept. 19 win over Eastern Michigan
"I know he's been wearing that little thing that accelerates the healing, and I think he says it feels good,” Rodriguez said. “Whether he makes any progress to be able to practice this week, I’ll probably know (Tuesday) for sure."
With Molk out of the lineup, Michigan’s running game has sputtered in Big Ten games against Indiana and Michigan State. The Wolverines are averaging 270.7 yards rushing with Molk at center, and 88.5 yards behind his replacement David Moosman.
In last week’s loss to MSU, the Wolverines had just 28 yards rushing on 28 carries.
“More than anything what David Molk brings is a certain attitude up front of aggressiveness and I guess tenacity,” Rodriguez said. “He kind of sets the tone for that, so we’ve talked to our guys and challenged them a little bit in that regard.
“When David Molk’s not in there, somebody else has to kind of set that tone. It helps when the center does that, and Moose understands that. But there’s no question David Molk has that type of mentality that you want up front.”
Rodriguez said Michigan escaped last week without any serious injuries, and the significant in-game lineup changes the Wolverines made were not health related.
Jordan Kovacs played the final three quarters at safety in place of starter Mike Williams, and John Ferrara replace Mark Huyge at right guard for the second half. Rodriguez said he hasn't decided who’ll start at either position this week.
“I don’t know if (Mike) was 100 percent” - Williams missed the Indiana game with a sprained ankle - “but it was more of a substitution thing for us,” Rodriguez said. “Jordan Kovacs had been playing pretty well, but Mike is still very much in the mix.”
Kovacs led Michigan with a career-high 17 tackles and forced a fumble last week.
Quarterback Tate Forcier also was expected to be limited in practice Monday, but Rodriguez said he'll be full-go later in the week.
Dave Birkett covers University of Michigan football for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached by phone at 734-623-2552 or by e-mail at davidbirkett@annarbor.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.
Comments
Dave Birkett
Wed, Oct 7, 2009 : 4:40 p.m.
I would think all those guys would be back since they're in the two-deep. No reason to run any of them off from a coach's standpoint. Schilling and Molk and probably Huyge will be your anchors. Don't know if Dorrestein and Ferrara are starters or not. Coaches are pretty high on some of the young guys, but I think you'd want to keep them around in case the freshman/sophomores aren't ready.
jeremy
Tue, Oct 6, 2009 : 8:50 a.m.
thanks dave, do u have any feeling if any of the 3 will return for their 5th year and if they did would it hurt any recruiting from number of scholarships point?
Dave Birkett
Mon, Oct 5, 2009 : 8:45 p.m.
Buck1, of the guys you mentioned only Ortmann, Moosman and McAvoy are fifth-year seniors, and as you mentioned McAvoy's been injured all year. Schilling, Ferrara and Dorrestein all have one season of eligibility left.
Rodie
Mon, Oct 5, 2009 : 7:36 p.m.
I get nervous every time the defense gets on the field. I won't pretend like I know what the problem is but they look lost and slow. We need an aggressive, fast, and strong LB.
raddes
Mon, Oct 5, 2009 : 7:13 p.m.
Stop knocking the offensive line and stop insinuating that MSU's defense stopped the running game. MSU's best defense was their offense with a TOP of 39:46. Otherwise, why would such a "great" defense give up 20 points when the other team only had the ball for 20:14. Stop giving MSU's defense any credit----Sparty gave UM all the chances in the world to win and UM didn't take advantage. Enough said---This is a new week, with a new opponent, and new outlook. Go Blue!
jeremy
Mon, Oct 5, 2009 : 5:42 p.m.
redceder....gardner is a 5 star on most recruiting sites. Plus they have guys like ricardo miller who will be a 5 star after the season is evaluated. His recruiting guys isnt the problem. Its going to be how they perform once they get here. Having a 5 star rating doesnt mean u will be great. Its just like the basketball team a player can fit a system without having to have a ton of hype around them and be successful and whole lot less drama queen in the locker room
jeremy
Mon, Oct 5, 2009 : 5:17 p.m.
Has anyone know if any of the senior oline that could come back for a 5th year? The seniors listed are Schilling, Moosman, Ortmann, Mcavoy, Ferrerra, and Dorrestein. Those (minus mcavoy due to injury) are pretty much the main contributors along with 2 juniors molk and huyge. Id be interested to know if richrods agressive recruiting will give him room to bring any of these guys back for a 5th year if they have the eligibility. So if anyone knows this Id be appreciated. And no the info isnt for the vest. I live in ann arbor and my gf is a blue maniac and I do follow michigan and how they do. It makes the rivalry more interesting when I do this.
jeremy
Mon, Oct 5, 2009 : 5:10 p.m.
Speaking of the oline, I never realized how many guys playing on the oline were seniors. I keep hearing about next year, but next year michigan's line will be like osu's line this year with maybe 3 sophomores starting. That could take a couple games to gel and find their identity and cause some nervous moments
kerch65
Mon, Oct 5, 2009 : 4:40 p.m.
I completely agree with your assesment 81wolverine just very frustrated that the same mistakes continue to happen, in order to improve they need to indentify the problem and then work to fix it but they are not doing that they are doing the same boneheaded moves over and over
81wolverine
Mon, Oct 5, 2009 : 4:16 p.m.
Let's hope the rest of the offensive linemen pick up Molk's tenacity and aggressiveness QUICKLY! They were awful against State. Based on what I've seen from Kovacs, he should be the starter: intensity, strong fundamentals, and here's a novel one - being in the right position on the field. This guy was great on Saturday and was one of the very few bright spots on the defense. Kerch65: Don't get your hopes too high on the linebackers for a while. We just don't have the talent there. We're paying for poor recruiting at this position starting in 2005 during the Carr years. The only good actual LB we signed in that time was Brandon Graham. But, Michigan did what they always do when they bring in a great high school LB - switch him to defensive line. Then, they start grabbing players to switch to LB who played something else in high school and their early Michigan career. It's not much of a surprise that we don't have guys with a nose for the ball, tenacity, instinct where to be on the field, and can run.
kerch65
Mon, Oct 5, 2009 : 4:07 p.m.
I cant beleive how bad our O-LINE realy is they should be embarassed on the way they played i mean seriously a lousy 28 yards rushing if you think MICHIGAN has a chance to beat iowas defense your crazy i love this team and the coach but some improvements have to be made hes talked about improvements on defense need to be done no more talking try doing it talk is cheap
kerch65
Mon, Oct 5, 2009 : 4 p.m.
well how about getting some things changed in the defense like lets find a LB that doesnt abandon his post like say covering the middle of the field so that a non running QB doesnt scamper up the middle of the field on a 3rd and long several times that has happened and how about checking the WR at the line of scrimage to slow them down so our defense has time to get after the QB i swear nobody ever does that anymore. Due to a horrible secondary you have to beable to bump these WR at the line to slow them down and heres a novel idea learn PLEASE the art of tackling