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There really isn’t much to complain or worry about so far in MSU’s season.
But, if you’re really jonesing to fret about something, it could be Kyle Ahrens and Joshua Langford’s injuries that could keep them out Thursday at Nebraska.
Tom Izzo presser underway. Says it's "status quo" with Langford and Ahrens. "Hoping by end of this week to know more on Josh. Kyle is pretty much day to day."
— Matt Charboneau (@mattcharboneau) January 14, 2019
Allow me to play doctor for a little bit here. Ahrens being day-to-day with his back injury seems pretty standard. Langford’s injury seems a bit more concerning as he’s missed the last four games with an ankle injury. When news broke a few weeks ago about Langford’s ankle injury, Izzo had this to say...
Izzo says Langford is sitting as a precautionary measure. "It doesn't seem to be your normal sprained ankle." Will have a specialist look at it, and Langford is in a walking boot.
— Chris Solari (@chrissolari) January 3, 2019
“Doesn’t seem to be your normal sprained ankle,” rings loud of concern. There’s still no concrete timeline of when Langford could return, but that’s obviously the biggest concern in MSU’s season.
Now, notably, things have still gone very well with Langford out and Ahrens missing his first game against Penn State. Aaron Henry looked strong in his starting debut against the Nittany Lions. Gabe Brown looked fearless and pretty comfortable in his season-high 21 minutes against Penn State (just his second time going north of 10 minutes this season).
However, Izzo also brings up the worries with playing two freshman in key roles in the midst of Big Ten play.
Izzo says the mental fatigue comes into play with freshmen. "It's something we talk to them a lot about...I would think mentally, this is where it gets a little crazy for them."
— Chris Solari (@chrissolari) January 14, 2019