A bye week certainly helped Nebraska’s injury situation at several key positions, but there are still several unknowns as the practice week rolls on toward Saturday afternoon’s home kickoff against Indiana.
Following Tuesday's practice, quarterback Adrian Martinez walked past reporters in full pads and with a brace over his injured left knee. Martinez also was in full pads during early-week practices before NU played Minnesota and, of course, the 6-foot-2, 225-pound sophomore from Fresno, California, did not play.
It is unclear whether he was physically involved in practice on Tuesday.
Freshman wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson (left foot/ankle) was seen in street clothes after practice Tuesday.
On a better note for the Huskers, sophomore kicker Barret Pickering continues to dial up his workload. He was in pads Tuesday and is up past 20 kicks per day in practice, according to special teams coordinator Jovan Dewitt.
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“He looked good,†Dewitt said. “Kind of refreshing.â€
Dewitt said NU will continue to be careful about both distance and volume as Pickering works back toward a return.
“Absolutely," Dewitt said. "You want to make sure you’re not stressing it out and creating all that sheer force on his leg before he’s ready to do that."
Dewitt suggested Pickering could be in play to return this week. If the sophomore misses one more game, he could be in line for a redshirt, depending on his availability, bowl qualification and other factors.
“That’s all going to depend on how the season progresses,†Dewitt said. “It’s going to be week to week. He says he’s willing to do whatever we need him to do.â€
Blackshirt tradition:Â Nebraska will wear its alternate uniforms honoring the Blackshirts on Saturday because, as head coach Scott Frost put it Monday, "we're running out of home games."
Defensive coordinator Erik Chinander, a staunch believer in the Blackshirt tradition, said Tuesday that the Huskers need to have the right attitude when the jerseys get put on.
"Have we earned the right to wear that? Probably not. But that’s when it’s scheduled to be worn, so it better mean a lot this week and you better represent it when you put it on," Chinander said. "You put those things on and you go out and have a great day, that will set the tone for what it’s supposed to be from here on."
Henrich close to playing:Â Nick Henrich is "very close" to making his first appearance as a Husker, inside linebackers coach Barrett Ruud said Tuesday.
Henrich, who has been rehabbing a shoulder injury since fall camp, is still a likely redshirt candidate, Ruud said. But he's likely to see the field sooner rather than later.
Steve Sipple and Parker Gabriel give insights on player injuries and alternative jerseys after practice on Oct. 22, 2019.
"Now it's just about putting him in a spot where he's going to succeed. Making sure he's, No. 1, able to practice the whole week, and what he's going to be doing," Ruud said. "So it probably won't be this week, but he's going to be up and running pretty quick here."
Henrich came to Nebraska with much fanfare after a senior season at Omaha Burke that saw him post 96 tackles and 19.5 tackles for loss while being named the Gatorade Nebraska Player of the Year.
Rahmir ready if needed: Freshman running back Rahmir Johnson could hear his name called more often in the coming weeks as Nebraska's running back room gets reshuffled with the loss of Maurice Washington.
Coaches have said all season they would like to redshirt Johnson, but would also like to get him some game reps within the framework of the four-game redshirt rule.
Johnson said Tuesday he would like to retain a redshirt season, but will do what he has to do to help the team.
The speedster from New Jersey has appeared in two games, getting three carries for 9 yards against Northwestern.Â
With Maurice Washington's absence, Johnson is listed as NU's co-No. 2 running back with Wyatt Mazour, and as the Huskers' No. 2 kick returner behind Wan'Dale Robinson.
Mazour’s “weird experienceâ€: Wyatt Mazour has spent more time than he’d like at home recently.
The bye week is all well and good, but Mazour, the senior walk-on running back from Albion, also missed NU’s trip to Minnesota because he suffered a concussion and hadn’t cleared the hurdles necessary to return to the field.
“It was the weirdest thing, because I haven’t watched a game (on television) in a long time,†Mazour said. “Just watching that game, wishing I could help out the team. … It really sucked to not be there.
“I watched the game with my fiancee, first time ever since I’ve been in college. It was a really weird experience.â€
Mazour is now listed as the NU’s No. 2 running back behind Dedrick Mills because sophomore Maurice Washington is not currently part of the team.
Bye week fixes: While the bye week represented a chance for Nebraska's offense to work on discovering a physical mentality, it also gave NU's defense an opportunity to work on the problems that have plagued it in Big Ten play.
"Me and Coach Frost scripted practice together so they kind of saw what they wanted to see and we got to see what we wanted to see a little bit," Chinander said. "It wasn’t one of those deals where they were running plays where they got free shots — we’re going to smash each other up front, we’re going to stop stretch, we’re going to stop inside zone; they’re going to run inside zone, run stretch, and then run some pass plays off of it."
Defensive coordinator Erik Chinander talks about bye week and needing to be better after practice on Oct. 22, 2019
In Big Ten games, Nebraska ranks 13th in the league in rush defense while allowing a league-worst 5.9 yards per carry. NU is tied for 12th in the conference with two total interceptions in four games, and its six total sacks are 10th in the conference.
"Any time you're in a bye week scenario you've got to evaluate where you're at. Sometimes you're in a position where you're playing really well and you need to recover and you need to get young guys reps and those types of things," Chinander said. "We're not. We're in a position where we need to be better this coming week and work on being physical, continue to develop players and develop fundamentals."
— Chris Basnett and Parker Gabriel