MSU's Jonathan Smith addresses injuries and discusses travel strategy for USC
Michigan State head coach Jonathan Smith during his press conference addresses the injuries from Saturday's game against Youngstown State and how the team will travel for such a late game at USC this coming Saturday.
During last Saturday’s football game, a 41-24 victory over Youngstown State, Michigan State suffered multiple injuries to key players.
The injured players include wide receiver/kick returner Alante Brown, running back Makhi Frazier, wide receiver Nick Marsh and offensive lineman Luka Vincic.
On Monday, MSU head coach Jonathan Smith noted that all four injuries are of the lower body variety, and gave an update on the statuses of each of the aforementioned players moving forward.
Vincic, who transferred to Michigan State from Oregon State this past offseason, is expected to miss the rest of the season. Meanwhile, Brown is also expected to miss significant time. Marsh and Frazier will be reevaluated toward the end of the week, but their injuries are not expected to be long-term.
“Luka Vincic will be a long term injury, probably won’t see him the rest of the year, which is tough,” Smith said. “Alante (Brown) actually was a pre-game injury and that will be a long-term injury as well. Both Nick Marsh and Makhi Frazier, we’ll see how it looks like at the end of the week, but those two are not anywhere near the other two in regards to the amount of time.”
Marsh had a strong start to last week’s game against YSU, recording six receptions for 94 yards before halftime. However, he did not play in the second half (and missed time toward the end of the first half as well).
With the injuries piling up, and a long road trip ahead of this Saturday’s game against USC in Los Angeles, Smith is proceeding cautiously when it comes to practice for certain players.
“What they have proven before and knowing the guy — oftentimes it's a veteran — he’s gotten a lot of reps, does he need a full week of practice, those kinds of things,” Smith said regarding how much practice time is needed for players to play in a game. “So, it's really each individual basis on deciding on that. So, yeah, I’m good if Nick Marsh takes a whole limited week, but if he’s cleared to go and play, you’ll probably see him out there."
