How Ronnie Bell, Rod Moore, others returning from injury are faring
Fifth-year receiver Ronnie Bell and sophomore safety Rod Moore are expected to be huge pieces of this year’s Michigan football team, but only if they’ve fully recovered from significant injuries. Bell, of course, blew out his knee in the opener against Western Michigan last year, while Moore had offseason upper body surgery.
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Both Bell and Moore had big tests to pass in fall camp, and they got their shots in the first four practices. But they weren’t alone. Junior Reece Atteberry suffered a lower leg injury at the end of camp, but his rehab has apparently gone very well.
“Reece Atteberry got hurt in the spring, but he’s had some real physical, dominant plays already in the fall camp,” Harbaugh said.
He’ll vie for backup guard duty and should be a big part of future Michigan lines.
Bell, as reported, has set personal bests in the 40 and in drills, but Harbaugh and Co. wanted to see how he’d fare in certain situations. The fifth-year senior and likely repeat captain is passing every test with flying colors.
“I’m really excited,” Harbaugh continued. “Every day he does something that I might have been worried about. ‘Can I do that? Can I make this cut, or can I make this play? Can I leave my feet and make a catch and come down?’
“Just yesterday, it was going up with another player. I think he went up with [junior corner] DJ Turner, who can get up. Ronnie can get up. For Ronnie to come down with the defender with him — and then he did — I’ve never seen Ronnie in a better mood the rest of the practice, because you know he was worried about that. He hadn’t done that yet since having the knee injury. He did it, so he knows he can do it. And the rest of the practice his mind was very, very happy and clear.”
Moore, meanwhile, was every bit as aggressive as he’d been last year when he moved up the depth chart. He went from backup to starter in part because of his work ethic, and also because of his tackling ability.
You’d never know he had surgery, Harbaugh said.
“He’s back, flying around, doing Rod Moore stuff, and he’s leading, too,” Harbaugh said. “You ask where the leadership’s coming from? There’s a guy that you make an example to other players. ‘You want to do it right, you want to be good, emulate the things that Rod Moore does.’
‘We teach tackling. We have a great ‘teach the game’ segment, and tackling is one of them. The type of different tackles that a defensive player could make. Rod Moore showed up on that tape five times. It wasn’t on purpose, it was just … these are some of the best tackles in the season, examples of tackling.”
As previously reported, Moore watched twice as much film on his iPad as the next player, too. That prepared him for battle down the stretch in the Big Ten, and it paid off for both him and the team.
There are still three and a half weeks to go until the opener, but Michigan appears to be in good shape, health-wise, beyond Moore and Co. That bodes well as they approach a Sept. 3 contest with Colorado State.
