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
• 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.
• 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."
• 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.
Comments
Danny
Thu, Oct 29, 2009 : 12:53 a.m.
Michigan is going to a bowl game. Which game is not clear at this time. It does not really matter which bowl game because they will be ready to play. Warm, coached, healthy and ready. Iowa will go to the Rose Bowl and get their butt handed to them by USC. Ohio State will go to a BCS bowl against the SEC and get their yearly bowl bashing. So RR will salvage the dismal season with a bowl win and get ready for a much better season next year. Remember Michigan's Bowl win two years ago. Lloyd's team got beat up during the regular season and beat a good Florida team because they were healthy, having fun and well prepared. At the same time Ohio State and others were getting pasted in bowl games. No I'm not on drugs, Michigan will do it again this year. The skinny kid will be bigger, stronger and wiser next year. Playing with Michigan, I hope!
marineblue
Wed, Oct 28, 2009 : 9:42 p.m.
enigmaingr doesn't have a clue as to what he is talking about. warren is # 6 (who was involved) and odoms is #9 who was on the sidelines. either way he isn't a M fan, a true hater he is! drew dileao will be our primetime kick and punt returner next year.
81wolverine
Wed, Oct 28, 2009 : 6:29 p.m.
I'd love to see us recruit a dedicated kick-return specialist. But, I know talented HS kids don't want to sign on to return kicks. But the reality is that this position is valuable to NFL teams. Jeremy Gallon, one of Michigan's prized recruits this year could fill the bill in this area. He's been red-shirted this year, but hopefully he'll be ready to go next year.
amaizenman
Wed, Oct 28, 2009 : 5:24 p.m.
enigmaingr If you actually watched the game, it was Warren that crashed into Odoms knee on a punt return
enigmaingr
Wed, Oct 28, 2009 : 4:53 p.m.
Seeing Odoms and Hemmingway collide on the kickoff was perhaps the only thing more disappointing than the safety. I hope they are good to go this weekend.