Michigan’s defense against No. 1 Oregon will be without a key player as cornerback Will Johnson will miss the Saturday matchup in Ann Arbor, Mich., due to an injury, CBS Sports/247 Sports and ESPN reported Friday night.
Johnson got hurt on Oct. 19 during the Wolverines’ 21-7 road loss to then-No. 22 Illinois, and he didn’t play last week as Michigan beat visiting Michigan State 24-17.
The injury was described as being to a lower leg, with CBS Sports reporting Johnson has a foot ailment.
Asked about Johnson on Monday, Michigan coach Sherrone Moore said, “He’ll for sure (play again) this season. We’ll see how it works out this week and what he can do. So we’ll just let the doctors handle that. … Will has no plan of just shutting it down or anything like that.
“If he could go out there, he would go out there in a heartbeat. I know that he’ll be back out there at some point this season, whether it’s this week, next week, whatever it is. And there’s zero doubt in my mind that he’s a competitor that wants to be out there with his teammates.”
The tone of Moore’s comments was in relation to Johnson potentially bowing out of college competition to focus on the NFL Draft. On ESPN’s latest 2025 draft rankings, Michigan defensive tackle Mason Graham is listed as the No. 1 overall prospect, with Johnson at No. 2.
Through five games this season, Johnson has 12 tackles, three passes defensed and two interceptions (both returned for touchdowns).
The defending national champion Wolverines are 5-3, 3-2 in the Big Ten entering the matchup with Oregon (8-0, 5-0).
