What Jim Harbaugh said about various Michigan football player injury rehabs
BIG RAPIDS, Mich. — Sometimes Jim Harbaugh will share information about injuries, sometimes he’s reticent.
On Thursday, he was more the latter until coaxed a little.
Speaking after the Michigan Football Showcase at Ferris State University, Harbaugh was asked about sophomore quarterback J.J. McCarthy’s injury status, being that the former five-star was unable to throw during spring ball. He’s reportedly back to being able to throw and close to full-strength, but Harbaugh wouldn’t confirm nor deny the progress he’s made to this point.
”I think he talked about that the other day,” Harbaugh said. “Probably the best thing — probably the best to ask somebody about someone’s pain or lack of it would be to ask J.J. about that.”
Since McCarthy wasn’t present at the football camp, Harbaugh was asked more about his progress and if the phenom signal caller feels like he’s improving. As far as what Harbaugh is hearing from him directly, he appears to be progressing and is on track to be a full participant in summer conditioning (which started on Friday) and fall camp come August.
“Every time I ask, that’s what he’s saying,” Harbaugh said. “He’s feeling good about it. He’s — beautiful thing about J.J. McCarthy is that he is like a kid in the candy store. That’s his mentality, his attitude, and that hasn’t changed one bit. If that’s any indication I would say he’s right on schedule.”
Of course, McCarthy isn’t the only one who’s recovering from an injury.
Ronnie Bell tore his ACL in the season opener in 2021, and was extremely limited in spring ball. Now Bell is starting to run and get reacclimated to the game, and while Harbaugh is still reluctant to give a full update on his status, he feels like what he’s seen recently looks like the Bell of old.
“Same with J.J., talk to Ronnie and find out exactly where he is. But from my eye looks like Ronnie Bell, before he injured the ACL,” Harbaugh said. “The way he’s moving, the way he’s — seeing him jump, run, and cut. Definitely on track and looks about the same as he did before, or may a little better — he has two more months to get stronger and faster, and get ready for the season. I think from my eyes he’s an A-plus.”
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Quarterback competition
Going back to the quarterback situation, should McCarthy be at full-strength come fall, it creates a quality problem for the Wolverines. They have an incumbent starter in Cade McNamara who beat Ohio State, won the Big Ten, and led the team in their first-ever College Football Playoff semifinal.
Despite those accolades, McNamara won’t just be handed the job. Sure, he has a leg-up with starting experience as well as being the No. 1 QB throughout spring. But once fall camp arrives, his accolades mean nothing, as Harbaugh insists that whoever gives Michigan the best chance to win games will end up being the starter.
“Yeah, it’ll be competitive. The dynamic would be competitive,” Harbaugh said. “I’ll tell you the same thing I tell Cade and J.J., or any other player on our team that is competing for a position: who’s going to play is the best player. We’re going to figure out who the best player is, who plays the best.”
But what if McNamara and McCarthy are relatively even?
Last year, while McNamara started, McCarthy was inserted regularly as the season went on, almost like a change of pace running back would be. While the ideal would be to have one bona fide starter, Harbaugh can envision several different scenarios, from a rotation like last year, a more balanced rotation, or one starter and the other as a backup.
“Yeah, those are the options. One guy full-time, or a combination of two guys playing like last year,” Harbaugh said. “That’s possible — the possibilities could be one starter and one backup, or two guys that contribute and play well. Excited to throw the balls out there and let the guys compete.
“The cool thing about it is J.J. and Cade — it’s competitive, but not combative. Two guys that play the same position and are on the same team, everything I have noticed is they have each other’s back, and they have the team’s back.”
There’s still a lot of time for these things to be figured out, from the health component to the playing time competition. As noted, summer conditioning is officially underway with eyes on fall camp beginning in August.
List
Everything Jim Harbaugh had to say at the Michigan Football Showcase
