Justice Haynes, Rod Moore injury updates: Michigan coach Sherrone Moore discusses standout players

Michigan Wolverines football junior running back Justice Haynes had a big game in the team’s 31-20 win over Michigan State, rushing 26 times for 152 yards and 2 touchdowns. However, Haynes came up gimpy in the second half after a fumble.

Head coach Sherrone Moore was asked about Haynes’ status on his radio show Monday night and didn’t have much of an update, but did seem to indicate that he is indeed injured.

“Yeah, we’ll see,” Moore said when asked if he expects Haynes to play in Michigan’s game against Purdue Saturday. “We’ll see what he looks like as he goes through the week.”

The 5-foot-11, 210-pound Alpharetta, Ga., native missed the previous six quarters with an injury to his abdominal / rib area. While he was out, sophomore Jordan Marshall continued to rise and has now rushed for 100-plus yards in back-to-back games, including with 110 yards and a score on 15 carries vs. MSU. Marshall iced the game with a 56-yard touchdown run to make it 31-13.

Moore discussed what having Haynes back for the Michigan State game and back into a tandem with Marshall did for the offense.

“It was awesome,” the coach stated. “It was good. Justice ran super hard. So did Jordan, man. Both of those guys are super talented, played at a high level. It was great to have him back. But really credit Jordan, too. He’s a violent runner. It’s hard to bring him down. I know after the game, he’s probably sore, but they’re probably even more sore. Excited for him. Excited for those guys. That whole room is doing a really good job.”

Michigan graduate safety Rod Moore has missed the last two games, appearing to have suffered a setback with his knee. He missed the previous 15 months with a torn ACL and meniscus but returned and played in three contests. He logged 47 defensive snaps in his last appearance, a 31-13 loss to Southern California Oct. 11.

“Just working through the knee, making sure that it’s 100 percent,” Moore said at his press conference. “Does some things in practice, does some movement stuff, but it’s not all the way there. I think that one week [the USC game] he had a lot of reps, put some work on it, so we’ll just see how he’s going this week.”

Sherrone Moore discussed Rod Moore’s status further on his radio show.

“He’s doing well,” the coach said. “Just mentally, he’s a kid, right? So, you try to help him along and do things. We’ll see what he does this week. I think he’ll get back to a little more activity this week, and he did last week. But I’m not in his body, and I’m not going to force him to do anything, so we’re going to make sure he feels right before he gets back in there.”