Michigan Football: What Wolverines said about injuries, Shea Patterson

Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh spoke about Wisconsin and other topics ahead of the team’s game along with other Wolverines. Here’s what they said.

The Michigan football team was off last week during the bye but now the attention turns toward Wisconsin as the Wolverines head to Madison Saturday morning.

Naturally, there are a lot of questions coming out of the bye week. Is Shea Patterson healthy? Will Donovan Peoples-Jones and Jon Runyan Jr. play this week? Can the offense hang onto the ball?

Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh addressed some of these topics, even though he did so in an evasive way at times. Here’s a transcript of everything he had to say from the Michigan Insider but here are some key points.

Of note is that Harbaugh didn’t say whether or not any of the injured guys would play against Wisconsin and that seems to include Peoples-Jones, Runyan and also Tru Wilson.

Wilson is needed for depth purposes and for pass protection. It’s nice to have a veteran presence and it would help in the first road game. Runyan’s presence is obvious along with Peoples-Jones, who is a dynamic receiver and punt returner.

As far as Patterson goes, he just needs to be healthy enough to execute the offense and play like he’s capable of playing. If not, it’s time to give Dylan McCaffrey a shot. But I fully expect Patterson to be the guy Saturday. If he struggles though, Harbaugh has to at least consider a change.

One loss probably ends any hope of Michigan making the College Football Playoff, but more importantly, two makes the idea of winning a Big Ten title much more far fetched. The Wolverines would need help at that point, so while one loss won’t kill the title dream, two just might.

Harbaugh also addressed winning on the road, which is something his team hasn’t done against anyone ranked in the top 20. He’s 0-5 on the road against top-15 teams and Wisconsin is No. 13. Here’s what he said when he was asked what he wanted to learn this week about his team:

“Yeah, what kind of road team you are. The importance of being good. That’s what I’ve always thought of road games. When you win them, you have to be a good team.”

Most of the things Harbaugh said were basically coachspeak. However, Ben Bredeson did back Patterson when he spoke to the media. Here’s what he said via Angelique Chengelis of the Detroit News:

Bredeson also talked about the potential impact of Peoples-Jones:

It’s certainly a big week for the Wolverines and getting a clean bill of health would be extremely helpful. It’s hard enough to win in the Big Ten without all of your horses.

The guess is we won’t know for sure until as late as possible. But whether they play or not, Michigan football needs to win Saturday. If not, panic will ensue.