RB Derrick Green not with UM at bowl
Winter Garden, Fla. – Running back Derrick Green is not with the Michigan team in Orlando making preparations for the New Year’s Day Citrus Bowl.
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh said Sunday after practice at West Orange High school that Green remains with the team. He was asked the reason for Green’s absence.
“It’s an internal matter,” Harbaugh said.
Green, considered the top high school back out of high school, did not dress the final three games. Green had 47 carries for 157 yards and two touchdowns this season.
Harbaugh said there are no other absences from the team.
It has been a tough road at Michigan since Green arrived in 2013. The highly-lauded high school recruit arrived in Ann Arbor 20 pounds overweight and suffered an ankle injury in preseason camp. He had 270 yards on 83 carries that season.
In 2014, Green played well as the starter and ran for 471 yards on 82 carries before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury at Rutgers. He played only six games that season.
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Will Peppers play?
While Harbaugh was definitive about Green’s status, he was less so regarding Michigan standout Jabrill Peppers. Peppers was at the practice facility on Sunday but not in pads.
“He’s working through something,” Harbaugh said of Peppers. “We’ll see how much he plays. He’s out here working through something.”
Harbaugh’s “working through something” is vague enough it could mean anything. But earlier this month, the Michigan Daily reported Peppers was seen with a soft cast on his right hand. Photos that appeared on social media after that report showed Peppers with his right index finger bandaged.
Harbaugh declined to offer details on who would carry the load for Peppers, a safety, who also returns kicks and contributes on offense, should he not be available for the Jan. 1 game.
“Don’t need to really share that,” Harbaugh said. “I mean, I don’t know if that’s going to be the case.”
Fisch sticking around
Jedd Fisch, Michigan’s pass game coordinator and quarterbacks / receivers coach, was the only member of Harbaugh’s staff who in January signed a one-year deal. He had been offensive coordinator of the Jacksonville Jaguars the previous two seasons.
Fisch, whose Michigan contract paid him $200,000 this season, will remain in Ann Arbor.
“We have an agreement that he’s being extended,” Harbaugh said, adding the two will work to determine the length of the deal.
Florida players out for game
Florida freshman running back Jordan Scarlett was arrested for misdemeanor marijuana possession earlier this month and has been suspended for the Citrus Bowl, 247sports reported Sunday night. Scarlett rushed for 181 yards on 34 carries this season.
The Gators also will be without offensive tackle Mason Halter and linebacker Anthony Harrell, the Orlando Sentinel reported, because of academics.