Darius Snow out for the year; Xavier Henderson 'sore'

East Lansing, Mich. - Junior linebacker Darius Snow will be out for the remainder of the season due to a lower body injury sustained Friday night against Western Michigan, Michigan State head coach Mel Tucker said during his weekly press conference on Monday.

Senior safety Xavier Henderson is out indefinitely due to a lower body injury sustained on Friday night.

“X, he’s sore,” Tucker said of Henderson. “So we'll just have to see how he comes along with his treatments and things like that but he’ll be ready when he’s ready.”

Snow went down with his injury late in the first half of Michigan State’s 35-13 victory over Western Michigan. Snow was assisting on a tackle when nickel back Chester Kimbrough threw his body into the pile and careened dangerously at Snow’s legs. Kimbrough quickly rose to his feet and tried to help the writhing Snow.

Snow had to be helped off the field, and later was driven to the locker room on a cart. Before the game ended, Snow was seen in a wheelchair, his leg in an immobilizer.

“Feel terribly for him,” Tucker said. “Snow is going to be out for the year. He has worked really hard and was playing at a high level. But he won’t be with us for the rest of the season.”

Tucker didn't give specifics on the nature of the injury.

Snow is a second-year starter who moved from nickel back to inside linebacker for the 2022 season. Insiders told SpartanMag.com last month that Snow had perhaps the best preseason camp of any defensive player. SpartanMag.com projected Snow as an All-Big Ten candidate for 2022.

Henderson played 26 snaps on Friday and missed the entire second half after making his 34th consecutive start. The fourth-year starter was on crutches, on the field, after the game.

Henderson was named honorable mention All-Big Ten by league coaches last year and third-team All-Big Ten by Pro Football Focus.

Also, sophomore defensive tackle Simeon Barrow, a second-year starter, had a strong first half on Friday, but played only 30 of the game’s 76 snaps. There is no word on his injury status.

"I told the players, ‘Don’t talk about your injuries or anyone else’s,” Tucker said.

Snow and Henderson are regarded as the smartest and most communicative players on Michigan State’s defense. Henderson said midway through August camp that communication on team defense had improved greatly since last year, and he especially enjoyed playing behind Snow due to Snow’s ability to make pre-snaps reads and communicate adjustments.

Michigan State should be fine at linebacker, from a football IQ and communication standpoint, with fifth-year senior Ben VanSumeren and returning starter Cal Haladay bringing experience to the linebacker level. But communication in the secondary is likely to take a hit.

With Henderson out, senior Kendell Brooks, a 2021 transfer from Division II North Central University in Tigerville, S.C., saw the first extended playing time of his Michigan State career on Friday. He played 30 snaps, had four tackles and forced a fumble. He also had a late hit personal foul in special teams coverage.

Pro Football Focus ranked Brooks No. 3 on the team for the game in pass coverage with a 72.5 grade, trailing only Kimbrough’s 79.6 and Henderson’s 79.5.

True freshman Jaden Mangham played 23 snaps at free safety. He had one tackle.

When SpartanMag asked Tucker about defensive communication on Friday after Snow and Henderson became unavailable, Tucker said: “I didn’t see a huge dropoff in communication out there. But then again, I've got to watch the film and kind of see some of the details of what’s going on out there. But I saw poise from the guys that were out there.

“(Defensive coordinator) Scottie (Hazelton) was doing a good job getting them calls early so they could get lined up, so they could take in the information, so they did have time to communicate.”

Tucker said Michigan State didn’t have to reduce its package when Mangham and Brooks were playing together.

“We played the stuff that we had,” Tucker said. “He (Hazelton) called the stuff that we have. It wasn’t like we felt like we needed to line up in one thing because the guys couldn’t function.”

Brooks was a regular on special teams last year. Meanwhile, Henderson and strong safety Angelo Grose were among the nation’s leaders in defensive snaps played. Tucker indicated previously that a lack of trust in the second-string safeties last year led to Grose and Henderson playing nearly 100 percent of the team’s snaps through 11 games. Now, Brooks will need to earn trust. There are few other options. Brooks' solid performance against Western Michigan was a good step forward.

With Henderson questionable, redshirt freshman A.J. Kirk, walk-on Khalil Majeed and true freshman Malcolm Jones are among the candidates to move up to second-string status at the two safety positions behind Grose, Mangham and Brooks.

Safety was regarded as the thinnest, most unproven position on the team heading into the season, outside of Henderson. Now, with Henderson’s availability in question, an otherwise strong Top 15 team will take on some serious long-term questions in the deep third of the field.