Jonathan Smith gives injury update for Michigan State football

Michigan State football coach Jonathan Smith gave some injury updates after a Week 1 win over Western Michigan.

On Monday, Jonathan Smith spoke to the media to address Michigan State football and its upcoming matchup with Boston College. He also took the time to reflect on the season-opening victory over the Western Michigan Broncos.

Naturally, one of the first questions was regarding overall team health.

Multiple Michigan State football players with promising outlooks

While Smith would not commit to having any players back in time for Saturday night’s matchup with the Eagles, he did express optimism for Nikai Martinez, Martin Connington, and Luka Vincic.

Better yet, Smith also claimed that no players suffered injuries on Friday that will hold them out of the Boston College matchup. At this time last year, the Spartans had lost defensive back Khalil Majeed, offensive lineman Kristian Phillips, and defensive back Dillon Tatum to season-ending injuries, alongside defensive end Avery Dunn having a nagging injury that would hold him out until Week 4.

“Coming out of the game, we felt really solid,” Smith revealed. “Nothing lingering from the game that we think is going to hold anyone out. Feeling optimistic about Luka Vincic, Nikai Martinez as well. Martin Connington has a shot to play this week.”

Vincic was a surprise addition among players to not take a snap last weekend, as he was not on the injury report. However, post-game, Smith revealed the Oregon State transfer was out with a foot injury. He is expected to make his Spartan debut on Saturday under the lights.

Smith also said he felt good about the chances for kicker Tarik Ahmetbasic, but that was after additional prompting. While it may be too much reading into it, the belief becomes Ahmetbasic might be on the sidelines for another week or so.

The coach also brought up tight end Brennan Parachek later in the press conference, but would not place a timetable on the tight end, only revealing he had an injury during camp.

Overall, there is plenty of optimism with the Spartans having a mostly healthy roster after one week. While depth is improved, it would be better for the Spartans to not have to test it during their premier out-of-conference matchup.

Players with unknown injury status

During the press conference, Smith did not address the status of sophomore defensive back Andrew Brinson IV, senior long-snapper Kaden Schickel, senior defensive back Dontavius Nash, or senior defensive tackle Jalen Satchell. Not much is known about the players’ original injuries, besides Schickel likely recovering from a lower-body injury suffered against Michigan in October last year.