Carlos Brown will stay on kick return; Martavious Odoms, Brandon Minor still hobbled

Carlos Brown wants another chance to return kicks, and Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez said Wednesday that Brown will get one.

"It’s another chance you can possibly get the ball," Brown said. "If not, you can help spring a big play."

Brown returned two kicks in last week's 35-10 loss to Penn State for a 23.5-yard average.

Michigan (5-3, 1-3) has been looking for a dangerous and dependable return man to pair with Darryl Stonum, and Rodriguez said Brown's speed makes him a viable option.

Stonum, Michigan's primary kick returner, broke a 94-yard touchdown return against Notre Dame. Martavious Odoms, Kelvin Grady, Brandon Smith and Roy Roundtree also have returned kicks for the Wolverines this year.

"Everybody knows Darryl’s pretty good back there and they’ll kick away from him," Rodriguez said. "Having an experienced guy like Carlos back there, either one of them can take it for us."

More Wednesday practice notes
â€¢ Odoms did not practice Tuesday because of a sprained knee, but Rodriguez remains hopeful he'll play Saturday against Illinois (1-6, 0-5).

"He’s been responding well to treatment," Rodriguez said.

Also on the injury list: receiver Junior Hemingway (knee) is a go against the Illini, while running back Brandon Minor remains hobbled by a high ankle sprain. Rodriguez said Minor's bruised heal is no longer an issue.

â€¢ Illinois plans to use two quarterbacks Saturday, senior Juice Williams, who torched Michigan for 421 yards of total offense last year, and redshirt freshman Jacob Charest, who's played in one career game. Rodriguez said Michigan won't alter its defensive gameplan for Charest.

"They’re going to do what they do," he said. "I don’t think schematically they’ll change much at all. When Juice is in there they’re running more, I’m sure, because of his ability to run. And that’s certainly what we expect."

â€¢ Rodriguez on receiver Greg Mathews, who caught a season-high seven passes last week against Penn State: "We remarked as coaches yesterday he had a really good day of practice and sometimes in your senior year you kind of see the end kind of coming to your college career and you think, 'Uh-oh, now’s the time for me to try to do even more.' And Greg’s a talented guy, he’s got great ball skills and hopefully he’ll keep progressing. We need Greg to come up big in the rest of the season as well."

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.