Michigan coach Brady Hoke spent his usual eight minutes on the Big Ten coaches' teleconference Tuesday, but not much of substance was said.
Hoke and the Michigan program are under fire for their handling of quarterback Shane Morris in Saturday's loss to Minnesota, and Hoke did say he felt bad for Morris, a sophomore who made his first career start against the Golden Gophers.
"I feel bad that Shane has had to go through this situation," Hoke said Tuesday.
Hoke opened his portion of the teleconference -- he was the second of 14 coaches to speak -- by referencing an early-morning release from the school and said, "I'm not going to add anything to the statement." In the statement, athletic director Dave Brandon said Morris had suffered a "probable, mild concussion" against Minnesota.
Hoke was asked if Morris would play this Saturday at Rutgers and said, "We're not going to talk about any injuries further." Hoke also wouldn't say whether Morris would practice Tuesday afternoon or at any time this week.
During his regular Monday news conference, Hoke had said he had not spoken with Brandon. The statement from Brandon said Brandon had "numerous meetings since Sunday morning to thoroughly review the situation that occurred at Saturday's football game regarding student-athlete Shane Morris. I have met with those who were directly involved and who were responsible for managing Shane's care and determining his medical fitness for participation."
The last question Hoke was asked during his portion of the teleconference was whether he had had any conversations with Brandon within the past 48 hours. "The statement is out there and it is what it is. Have I spoken to him in the last 48 hours? No question about it," Hoke said without elaboration as to when that conversation occurred.
Earlier, Hoke was asked about his relationship with Brandon and said, "We're very supportive of each other."
Morris took to Twitter Tuesday morning to post this:
Michigan president Mark Schlissel issued a five-paragraph statement Tuesday afernoon expressing regret for the way the situation was handled.
"We did not get this right and for this I apologize to Shane, his family, his teammates, and the entire Michigan family," he said in the statement.
He also said that "going forward," the communication will be "direct, transparent and timely." Evidently, Schlissel -- as with most everyone else -- realizes Michigan has been none of that in the past three days.
Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.
