Birk's Eye View: Friday's University of Michigan football post-practice notes

Center David Molk said the first-team offense failed to score on two drives inside the red zone during 11-on-11 work late in practice Friday, and Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez said he noticed improved fundamentals on the first day of full pads.

"I don’t know that we should be encouraged that we tackled them all the time or we couldn’t make somebody miss," Rodriguez said. "I was kind of torn. But the tackling part was really pretty good. And (coordinator) Greg (Robinson) and the defensive staff will continue to emphasize that because it was poor at times (last year) and we’ve got to do a lot of work."

• As I mentioned in my pre-practice notebook, Brandon Minor had limited contact Friday, though Michigan coaches are just being careful after Minor was involved in a recent car accident. Rodriguez said he'll return to full contact Saturday or Monday.

• The Wolverines will have a situational scrimmage next Wednesday and the first of two full scrimmages next Saturday. The second will be sometime the following week.

• Fitzgerald Toussaint "banged his shoulder up" in a tackling drill early in practice "and I don't know what the severity is with that," Rodriguez said. Toussaint has "showed some talent," Rodriguez said, but Michigan is deep at running back and it might be a stretch for Toussaint to play this year, especially if he misses any time.

• Molk on how much leadership Tate Forcier has shown at quarterback: “He doesn’t necessarily have to be a leader. That’s a major thing that I think is going to happen this season. With the experience we have on the O-line, we can set that pace with us. We just want thim to relax, get the ball, make plays, and that’d be perfect."

• Two Twitter updates: Rodriguez writes that he's got his sights set on trying to catch USC Pete Carroll and his 35,000-plus followers. You can follow Rodriguez at UM_CoachRod

• Also, from the Chicago Tribune's Brian Hamilton's account, Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis said he will dedicate a period in practice Monday and Tuesday to preparing for Michigan.