Michigan quarterback Jake Rudock is expected to be limited in practice after he was knocked out of this past weekend’s game against Minnesota with an injury.
Rudock took a rough-looking hit from a pair of Minnesota defenders in the third quarter and left the game. He was replaced by backup quarterback Wilton Speight, who threw the game-winning touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Saturday, Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh told reporters that he believed the injury to be bruising in Rudock's midsection, and he confirmed that Monday. He also said Monday that a "concussion was never something that was mentioned." Harbaugh said he expects Rudock to be limited in practice this week.
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“He'll go out and participate in practice. We'll see how much he can do," Harbaugh said. "He'll probably be sore, he'll probably be limited. That would be expected."
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Not surprisingly, the head coach didn’t have an answer for whether Rudock would be ready to go for Saturday’s game against Rutgers.
"It depends," Harbaugh said. "There's no magic formula other than that people is our best option, gives us the best chance to win, whatever position you're talking about, whether it's a quarterback or a cornerback. That's the test. And that they're not going to injure themselves worse. Doesn't always have to be 100 percent, maybe it does, maybe the next option — it just depends. And also that somebody's not going to injure themselves worse. That would be the two criteria: How good does he have to be to play, he's not going to injure himself worse and he is the best option, gives us the best chance to win with the percentage of his health."
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Speight was listed as the Wolverines’ No. 2 quarterback on the team’s depth chart for the first time this season. In all weeks prior, the No. 2 spot belonged to Shane Morris, though Harbaugh said Monday that Michigan will try to allow Morris to earn a redshirt this season by keeping him off the field if possible.