EAST LANSING – During Harlon Barnett’s first press conference as Michigan State’s acting head coach, he was asked about a player’s injury.
Barnett fell back on three decades ago while playing for the only head coach in NFL history to win the Super Bowl six times.
“I’ve been around (Bill) Belichick, so I’m giving Belichick answers to injuries,” Barnett said last week. “He’s day-to-day.”
A week later, there were more injuries to address after Michigan State (2-1) was hammered in a 41-7 loss to Washington. Tight end Tyneil Hopper and cornerback Charles Brantley both left last week’s game and didn’t return. Barnett pivoted to sounding like an NHL coach in the playoffs.
“Tyneil – lower body injury, Chuck – upper body injury,” Barnett said with a laugh on Tuesday.
Although he was attempting to provide levity in the moment and quickly pivoted to actual health updates about multiple players, even the beginning of the response was a dramatic shift from suspended and likely soon-to-be-fired coach Mel Tucker’s policy of almost never discussing injury specifics. Tucker routinely dismissed injury questions while repeating the same lines about how players are “sore” and “will be ready when they’re ready.” He didn’t mince words about the desire to not give even a sliver of information that could be useful for opponents, but there’s a different tone from the man now leading the program.
“Tyneil had surgery and I spoke with he and his mom a couple nights ago after the surgery,” Barnett said, “and he’s doing well, he’s in good spirits. That’s his deal. Chuck will be fine, he’ll be fine, there’s nothing major with Chuck.”
Hopper, a sixth-year senior and offseason transfer addition from Boise State, recorded a 13-yard touchdown catch in a Sept. 9 win against Richmond for his first reception with the Spartans. During the fourth quarter last week, the backup tight end caught a pass over the middle in traffic and fought through contact for 11 yards down near the goal line before his right leg was stuck under the pile. Medical staff stabilized his leg and carted him off the field.
The following day, Hopper posted pictures on social media smiling from a hospital bed with his right leg heavily bandaged. He thanked those for their prayers and wrote “will be back better than ever.” Immediately following the loss to Washington, Barnett said he didn’t have an update on his injury but that obviously changed by Tuesday.
“Tyneil had surgery and I spoke with he and his mom a couple nights ago after the surgery,” Barnett said, “and he’s doing well, he’s in good spirits.”
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Although Barnett didn’t provide a timeline for Hopper’s recovery from injury, undergoing lower leg surgery after Week 3 obviously isn’t promising. And Michigan State has plenty of other injury concerns heading into Saturday’s game at home against Maryland (3-0), including in the backfield.
Jalen Berger, who led Michigan State in rushing last season, was out of uniform on the sideline wearing a boot on his right leg last week. Running back Jaren Mangham, a veteran with 23 career touchdowns who transferred from South Florida to Michigan State in the winter, missed the first three games this fall. He dressed but didn’t play in the season opener, then appeared to aggravate an injury during pregame warmups before the win against Richmond.
“Berger and Mangham are probably about a week or so away, probably,” Barnett said, “but they’re working hard at it and looking to get back soon.”
With Berger and Mangham out, starter Nathan Carter had 17 carries for only 48 yards with little room to run against Washington after the UConn transfer led the Big Ten in rushing at 112 yards per game through the first two weeks. Jordon Simmons had four rushes for 11 yards and was the only other running back who played on offense for the Spartans last week.
Michigan State’s struggles moving the ball on the ground against Washington came a week after both Simmons and Davion Primm fumbled against Richmond and were pulled as walk-on Joseph Martinez got in the game. True freshman Jaelon Barbarin dressed but didn’t play last week and having two of the top three running backs out due to injury is far from ideal.
“There’s no excuses,” Barnett said after the loss to Washington. “We’ve got to just get it done and find a way to get it done. We had the guys that we had so we’ve got to perform.”
Although Tucker avoided injury questions, the Big Ten forced his hand in giving away some information by requiring availability reports this season, which list who is out and questionable two hours before each game. And Michigan State’s first availability report under Barnett was lengthy.
There were a season-high 16 Spartans listed as out and only one questionable in linebacker Darius Snow, who played against the Huskies in his first game back since a season-ending leg injury in last year’s opener. For the first time this season, the report also included Michigan State players out for the season – defensive tackle Alex VanSumeren and offensive linemen Gavin Broscious and Stanton Ramil.
Although the majority of Michigan State players listed out against Washington were in the same category the first two games, the newcomers last week included defensive ends Tunmise Adeleye and Ken Talley. Adeleye, a former top-40 overall recruit who spent two seasons at Texas A&M, recorded a sack against Richmond. Talley, a former four-star prospect who was briefly at Penn State last year before transferring to Michigan State, appeared in each of the first two games.
“They’ll be back this week, they were just out this week,” Barnett said after the loss to Washington, while noting not a single player told him they intend to sit out amid the coaching uncertainty. “We just had them out this week but they’ll be back.”
Injuries and suspensions depleted Michigan State’s roster last year en route to a 5-7 finish. Just two games into a new season, health concerns are starting to mount.
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