Michigan State releases week two availability report
Michigan State has listed six players as “out” for its game against Maryland Saturday afternoon. Redshirt senior wide receiver Alante Brown, junior defensive back Dillon Tatum, redshirt junior safety Khalil Majeed, redshirt sophomore defensive tackle Ben Roberts and redshirt sophomore right guard Kristian Phillips join defensive end redshirt senior Avery Dunn as players listed as “out.”
Michigan State has listed zero players as “questionable.”
Spartan head coach Jonathan Smith confirmed on Monday that Tatum, Brown and Majeed endured long-term injuries during last week’s win over Florida Atlantic. Tatum and Majeed are dealing with lower-body injuries, while Brown is dealing with an upper-body injury. Michigan State also listed Dunn as “out” last week. Of the six, Phillips and Roberts are the only surprise additions to the injury report this week.
Michigan State will likely turn to redshirt sophomore Gavin Broscious at right guard with Phillips out. The two competed throughout the offseason for the starting job, which Phillips ultimately won ahead of last week’s season opener. Second-string center Dallas Fincher has a chance to move into a backup guard role, with depth at the position suddenly an issue.
Walk-on Cooper Terpstra repped as a second-string guard during pregame warm-ups last week. He has yet to appear in a college game.
Junior safety Malik Spencer will return to the lineup Saturday after he was ejected from last week’s game due to targeting. Michigan State has experienced options in Spencer, Central Florida transfer Nikai Martinez and redshirt senior Angelo Grose available to play safety. It remains to be seen whether redshirt junior safety Armorion Smith plays Saturday after he sat out of last week’s game.
Michigan State rotated through six defensive tackles last week against Florida Atlantic. Spartan coaches view that as a position of depth early in the season. Meanwhile, Spartan offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren said earlier this week that freshman Nick Marsh and redshirt freshman Aziah Johnson are among the receviers who have a chance to see more playing time with Brown out. Both featured in Michigan State’s week one victory.
