Darius Taylor, the Gophers’ leading returning rusher, suffered an apparent hamstring injury late in Tuesday’s practice at Huntington Bank Stadium.
Gophers running back Darius Taylor injures hamstring in practice
Coach P.J. Fleck said Taylor’s injury is not serious, but trainers will continue to evaluate.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
August 13, 2024 at 8:17PM
Taylor was injured while running passing routes along the sideline. Trainers had the leg wrapped in ice.
“The good thing is it’s nothing serious,” Gophers coach P.J. Fleck said. “With our trainers, they’re obviously going to keep evaluating him, but he’s had a great camp up until now, so we’ll see what they say.”
Taylor rushed for 799 yards and five touchdowns last season as a true freshman in just six games. He missed the final five games of the regular season because of a hamstring injury. It wasn’t clear if Tuesday’s injury came to the same hamstring.
Perich’s role
True freshman safety Koi Perich continues to make an impression, though it remains unclear how much he will play to start the season.
“I think it’s really early when you talk about true freshmen. It’s all about how their bodies handle the next few weeks,” Fleck said. “It’s really difficult coming here in June and making a huge impact as a true freshman.
“… But we love what he does. We love how hard he plays. He’s really smart and if he continues to take the next right step, then you can see him being in the mix, not only at safety but special teams and other parts of the game.”
Jackson still sidelined
Daniel Jackson, the team’s leading returning receiver, continues to be limited at practice.
“He’s done some stuff with our trainers, he’s improved, he’s done a lot of the walk-through stuff, but the trainers decided to hold him out a few extra days — again, they have the call on that,” Fleck said. “So I feel great about where he’s at, and he’ll be back here soon.”
Green returns
Safety Darius Green, who has 24 games of experience over the past two seasons, was a full participant in practice after previously being out.
“I’m not going to single anybody out, but it was really good to get Darius Green back in the mix today, healthy and full speed,” Fleck said. “He made his presence felt pretty quickly.”
Sam Rinzel had two of the Gophers’ three power play goals against the Irish.
