Michigan CB Will Johnson expects to return from injury against Alabama in the Rose Bowl
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan football star Will Johnson confirmed to The Michigan Insider that he will return from injury against Alabama in the College Football Playoff.
“For sure I’ll be out there,” Johnson told TMI on Sunday afternoon. “I feel good. I feel real good.”
Barring any setbacks between now and Jan. 1, Johnson will “100%” play against the Crimson Tide.
Johnson “tweaked a little something” in the second half of the regular-season finale against Ohio State, as he said earlier this month, aggravating something that he had previously injured in practice. Though Johnson was “out there at practice” ahead of the Big Ten Championship Game, he ultimately did not play against Iowa as the Wolverines won their third straight title.
But, as he told TMI on Sunday afternoon at a toy drive hosted alongside Semaj Morgan, the ailment won’t hold him out of the CFP.
The sophomore’s return will be key for the Wolverines against Jalen Milroe and the talented Alabama receiving corps. It also, presumably, will allow Mike Sainristil to return to slot corner — where he has excelled in 2022 and 2023.
Below is what Johnson said earlier this month about his sophomore season and the Alabama matchup:
On being named to the All-Big Ten First Team:
It feels great. I mean, that’s a dream come true. That just shows all the respect the people around the conference have for me. So it just it feels great, definitely, to have that respect from everybody.
On the matchup against Marvin Harrison Jr. and Ohio State:
That game is always like blood is pumping. That’s all you can really think about coming into the game. Me and Marv, that matchup was super hyped up before the game. So my goal was just to shut him down as much as I can. He’s a great player, so he’s gonna get his a little bit too, but it was great. I mean, it was a movie — kind of similar to that ’21 game. We got the win, so it felt great.
On making so many big plays on big stages throughout his U-M career:
I wouldn’t say I surprise myself, but it’s just crazy how it all works — how in those big moments, I’m able to make those plays and kind of be in the right position at the time. So I wouldn’t say surprise, but with the awards and things like that, even those things don’t really feel like surprising. It more feels humbling. I didn’t expect it, but I feel like I earned it. So it’s not really surprising, but I feel like I earned it.
On the secondary depth stepping up against Ohio State and Iowa:
I was mad I couldn’t play. I was stressing about it. And those guys came up to me like, ‘Man, don’t worry about it. We want you to do what’s best for you, and we got your back.’ That just shows how close we are. We got a lot of depth. We work hard to be able to play multiple positions, because we know if that situation comes up, gotta be ready. So we’ve always got each other’s back no matter what situation comes. In that situation, they had my back.
On Mike Sainristil emerging on the national stage:
I feel like they still sleeping on him. I mean, he didn’t really make no first-team list or anything like that. It’s all those type of things, man. I think they’d be sleeping on him. I saw with the All-Big Ten thing, too — I think he was only first team with the media. I don’t know what the coaches were looking at all year. Dude got five picks, two pick-sixes, he’s been making plays all year. … Somebody’s gonna get a great player next year in the Draft.
On his early impressions of Alabama and the Rose Bowl:
We had a little break this week, so I’ve been trying to take my little time away that I can. But I’ve seen what they’ve got. They’re a very talented team, but I think we’re a very talent team too, so it’s going to be a good matchup.
Juwan Howard made his debut as Michigan’s head coach and spoke to the media for the first time since March.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Juwan Howard made his debut as Michigan’s head coach as the Wolverines beat Eastern Michigan, 83-66, on Saturday afternoon at the Crisler Center.
Howard, who missed the beginning of the season after open-heart surgery and returned in an assistant coaching capacity last month, received a hearty ovation from the hometown crowd prior to tip-off. Jon Sanderson, the strength and conditioning coach with whom Howard got into a verbal altercation last week, was absent from the U-M bench for a second straight game.
Howard spoke with reporters following the win. In doing so, he made his first public comments since the Wolverines lost in the second round of the 2023 NIT. Here is what the U-M coach said about his health, the state of the program and more:
Juwan Howard: Opening statement
Thank you all for coming. This is my favorite time — the pressers. It’s good to see some familiar faces. Believe it or not, I thought about you guys a lot too. And it’s a blessing. It’s truly a blessing. Have to thank God first, also giving a big, big shout-out to University of Michigan Medical, my doctors, Dr. Patel and his crew, the nurses. There have been so many beautiful nurses that have worked with me during my recovery. I’d also like to thank my wife — that’s the best nurse that I have. And I didn’t know that she went to medical school, but she was with me from the first day, all day. Having my wife with me: Such a beautiful moment having her support.
Also, I’d like to thank my players for the support — the text messages as well as the phone calls and cards. Also I have to give a big shout out to the coaching staff: Coach Phil Martelli for doing a really good job while I was away. Saddi Washington, Howard Eisley, Jay Smith, Jaaron Simmons. There are many, many managers. There’s so many support staff members that have been here having my back, helping while I’ve been gone. And I trust that everyone that while I was away — it felt like I was never gone.
To be back on the sidelines, something that I love doing, being head coach of the University of Michigan men’s basketball program: I just love the Maize and Blue and just to smell the energy of the building, also to see the fans present, and to be there yelling and shouting, calling timeouts, drawing up plays.
I remember the times when I was sitting in my hospital room and just thinking about: Would I ever have that opportunity ever again? And it’s the people that I thanked earlier along with the Michigan fans who prayed for me daily, getting prayers from the NBA basketball family, getting prayers from my old teammates, people back home in Chicago, people I grew up with praying for me. You just never know: I had so many people supporting me. And I never second guessed that, but that’s what got me through the process. It really did.
I’m happy to be here in front of you guys right now. And I’m looking forward to continuing this journey.
On how his time away impacted how he views coaching and life:
Being away, I got a chance to reflect late at night. You’re talking 3, 4, 5 in the morning, when you guys are probably asleep and I’m awake and I’m listening to the heart monitor beeping. And there’s medical professionals coming in my room and they’re doing their job taking vital signs. Now it’s taking me some time to get back to sleep. But one of the things I think about is basketball. It never leaves my mind.
I’m always wondering: ‘Okay, well how can you have the growth mindset? What are some of the most important things that your team needs to help grow? How can you challenge them? What are some of the things as a staff, how can we be the best version of ourselves for them?’ And those are the thoughts that I have.
But then also there are thoughts I had in my mind: ‘Okay, do I want to continue this journey of basketball and put my health first?’
I took my time during the process.
I’m just so happy that I found the problem. I’ve been stubborn; I’ve been an athlete before, and we’ve been taught to really suck it up. When there’s pain that you feel, or if you’re out of breath, take a deep breath and keep pushing yourself. And there was a time when I was out of breath and I’m like, ‘Okay, well I know how I’m suppose to feel, and I’m not feeling normal.’ And I’m just so happy I was not stubborn at the moment. I asked to set up a doctor’s appointment and with that finding something that really scared me. There’s another word I can use right now, but I do not want to be bleeped. But it really scared me.
And I had no idea of what I was truly facing because basketball has been my life. But to hear ‘open heart surgery,’ I was like: ‘Okay, well, bring it on. There’s another situation I’m dealing with. I can’t run from it, so this is what it is.’ And that’s the athlete mentality that I have.
I had never had a serious surgery before — playing in the NBA or playing in college — other than three broken noses. But to have open heart surgery, and after the surgery was over, I was like, ‘Whoa!’ I felt like I had gotten hit by a Mack truck.
It took some time: 15 days in the hospital. Fifteen! And with those 15 days, I got a chance to reflect on how badly do I want this — to get healthy. Am I going to put my head down and be in a puddle and just feel sorry for myself? Or am I going to toughen up, roll up my sleeves and say, ‘You know what? There’s no time to start feeling sorry. Let’s figure out how to get healthy.’
On the benchmarks he had to hit to return to coaching:
I’m not 100%. I don’t know what 100% is when you get into coaching.
I am at a stage in my life where I am healthy enough to resume to be on the sidelines. We’re 12 weeks — past the 12-week mark — since I had the surgery, September 15. I still, three days a week, have physical therapy, and I find that to be great for me.
During the stages of returning to the sidelines, what’s the return to the sideline look like? When I asked that question to my doctor, he said, ‘Well, I think it’s smart that we do it in stages.’
And let’s start with maybe going into a practice and seeing a practice from the PDC [Player Development Center] up above where we have our suite, balcony area. And then if you’re in practice in Crisler, maybe from the stands. And so I did that. I tried that for two practices and a half. And it felt great. It felt great to just see the players, see the staff. There were times when our staff would call me and check on me and stuff like that, but to be back in the gym, it felt like a reward. And I really embraced that.
And then the next stage was: I can be able to sit in on a practice. When I sat in on my first practice, I felt fatigued. I felt tired. But then each week, I got stronger and stronger. And the next stage was sitting at a practice and maybe have a voice — add to the teaching part of it. I worked my way there for a couple of weeks and after that, right before we went to Bahamas, the next stage was running a practice and be the guy that does a boatload of the teaching.
I, of course, always trust my assistants, but I wanted to not step on their toes — at the same time, be respectful of all, including the players. And so when I went to The Bahamas and I was allowed to sit on the bench and feel the energy, went to Oregon, felt like more of a college setting, as well as at Iowa. Then I said: ‘You know what? I’m ready. I’m ready to do this.’ And I felt very comfortable with the return schedule.
On the incident with Jon Sanderson:
I’ll basically piggyback on what Warde said: Refer to his statement. I think it was clear. It was precise. And there’s still a review happening at this moment.
On Jon Sanderson’s status with Michigan basketball:
I’m not sure. I would definitely say to you: Go back to that statement that Warde made. That will of course answer any question that you have.
On getting technical fouls while he was an assistant:
Welcome back to basketball, baby! Welcome back. That was part of my stage of returning. That was a part of it. And I stuck to the plan.
On if he has to do anything differently as a coach post-surgery:
I would say for me and for my family, and for the team and for this university: Take care of my health. Health is power, health is everything. If you don’t have health, you don’t have nothing. And that means proper sleep, eating right. That’s a part of taking care of my health. And I just embrace this working out — the plan that my doctor and nurses gave me is really helping me get strong.