Will Johnson injury update: Michigan star's status vs. Ohio State revealed in report

Michigan star cornerback Will Johnson is reportedly not expected to play in the Wolverines’ regular season finale against Ohio State on Saturday, according to Matt Zenitz. Johnson has been out with a nagging toe injury since October.

There was hope that Johnson could return for the Wolverines in the final few games of the season, re-incorporating arguably Michigan’s best player in the defense. However, that does not seem to be in the cards as Michigan is set to face the Buckeyes in Columbus.

On Monday, head coach Sherrone Moore spoke with the media about Johnson and tight end Colston Loveland’s respective statuses for Saturday but didn’t offer much by way of details.

“Yeah, we’ll see,” said Moore to the media on Monday. “I think, you know, Colston is trending in a good direction. We’ll get a better feel in the next couple days. Same thing with Will.”

Johnson is widely considered one of the top cornerbacks and overall prospects for the 2025 NFL Draft, were he to leave school early.

And while Johnson hasn’t played since Oct. 19, Moore said shortly after the injury the star corner would be back.

“He’ll for sure [play again] this season,” Moore said on Oct. 28, two days after Johnson didn’t play in a win against Michigan State. “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.”

Johnson boasts 14 tackles, three passes defended and two interceptions this season, both returned for touchdowns.

Kickoff between the rivals is slated for noon EST with the game broadcast on FOX.