The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/347495
INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS trust your knee and you're always second-guessing yourself, and you just have a really hard time letting it fly because when you're running full speed, cutting and using all that lower-body strength to hit someone, you're putting a lot of stress on your knees, and you just … you can't help but go a little slower and take it easy. "But now, Jake is a full year removed from his ACL surgery, a year healthier, so he should go out there without any worries about that knee, and be the player that he can be. I had my best season as a fifth-year senior, and he will do the same." The Wolverine: What do you say to Michigan fans that are anxious for the pro- gram to return to the top of the Big Ten? Harris: "No one wants to be patient anymore and I get that, but there is a reason that experienced players, especially in college, are so valuable. They're stronger mentally, physically, emotionally — they know the game better. It's the same thing in the NFL. If you had a team of all first- or second-year players, that team would get blown out every week. "You need a veteran presence to be a great football team, and we didn't have that last year. I don't think we're going to have it this year either, which is frustrat- ing because you just don't think it should take this long, but then you realize that you can't make guys grow up faster than is possible. But that's what we're all hoping — that those young guys that got experience last year grow up quickly." — Michael Spath