Michigan senior Courtney Avery, a team captain expected to start at free safety this season, likely will miss the first two games with a knee injury that required arthroscopic surgery.
Avery (5-feet-11, 175 pounds) spent his first three seasons at cornerback, then moved to safety about two weeks ago to fill a hole at free safety. Avery told reporters he was injured when he collided with a teammate.
Avery definitely will miss Saturday's opener against Central Michigan and seems likely to miss the Sept. 7 contest against visiting Notre Dame. Game 3 is against Akron on Sept. 14.
Sophomore Jarrod Wilson (6-2, 200) or junior Josh Furman (6-2, 202) will start in Avery's place. Wilson has had an uneven fall camp, which prompted Avery's position change. Furman is the No. 2 strong safety behind senior Thomas Gordon, but coach Brady Hoke said Furman could start at free safety.
Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.