Gophers wide receiver Chris Autman-Bell, who has been battling a lower leg injury since mid-August, suited up for warmups for Thursday night's season opener against No. 4 Ohio State, and it appeared that he might try to play.
But when the team returned to the field to start the game, he was in sweatpants, jersey and no helmet, his night over.
Coach P.J. Fleck said Autman-Bell should be ready to return for next Saturday's game against Miami (Ohio). The senior from Illinois is the team's leading returning pass catcher with 78 career receptions for 1,250 yards and six touchdowns.
In addition, senior wideout Clay Geary sat out the game because of an undisclosed injury.
Howden's injury hurts
Gophers safety Jordan Howden was helped off the field with 8:12 left in the second quarter because of a leg injury and later walked to the locker room. The defense struggled to replace him.
"He's the quarterback back there, and our medical team pulled him out for his safety and I'm all good with that," Fleck said. "But that put us in a little bit of a bind in the middle of that game, especially with some matchup issues.
"We usually have Michael Dixon in there, and Michael Dixon's missed some time and finally came back this week. But again we're going to get healthy. We're going to learn from this and keep going."
