Michigan starting quarterback Brandon Peters is currently in concussion protocol following a hit that he received Saturday at Wisconsin.
Meeting with the media for his weekly Monday press conference, Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh revealed the news, which puts Peters’ availability for Saturday’s game against Ohio State up in the air.
“There’s stages,” Harbaugh said of the protocol. “As soon as he’s symptom-free, if that happens today, then he has to go to a day where he has exertion, does cardio, and then lifting to be able to work up a sweat and exert yourself, and then you see if the symptoms are there the next day.
“Once that occurs and come back that next day and there’s no symptoms, then he’d be allowed to practice without contact. That could happen as early as Wednesday, could happen as early as Thursday. Each case is different. Totally go by the doctors.”
In Saturday’s game, Peters was hit after a throw and taken down to the turf, where his head hit the ground. He was eventually carted off and evaluated at a medical facility.
Peters has started the last three games for Michigan, and played the bulk of the contest against Rutgers four games ago when previous starter John O’Korn was benched. In those four games, Peters has completed 36-of-63 passes (.571) for 482 yards (120.5 ypg) with four touchdowns and no interceptions.
To further muddy waters for both the Wolverines and the Ohio State defensive coaching staff, Michigan’s initial starting quarterback Wilton Speight is getting closer and closer to being fully cleared to play. He practiced last week for the first time, but was not cleared for contact. That clearance could perhaps be coming this week. He has missed the bulk of the season due to three cracked vertebrae suffered against Purdue.
If neither Peters or Speight are cleared to play, Michigan will once again turn to John O’Korn, who has completed 53.2% of his passes with one touchdown and five interceptions this season. O’Korn replaced Peters against Wisconsin and completed just 2-of-8 passes for 19 yards.
[Brandon Peters photo courtesy MLive.com]