Michigan
Ex-Michigan CB Will Johnson confident ‘I’ll go to the team that’s supposed to pick me’
Michigan edge rusher Josaiah Stewart has met with the Detroit Lions
Defensive end Josaiah Stewart prepares for the NFL draft at Michigan football pro day in Ann Arbor, Friday, March 21, 2025.
Will Johnson did not work out at Michigan football’s pro day Friday because of a hamstring injury he suffered while training, but the top cornerback in this year’s NFL draft said he plans to hold a private workout for teams April 14.
“It was kind of just (something that happened when I) got back from my toe (injury) in early January,” Johnson said. “When you’re doing the training we’re doing like this, it’s pretty intense, so just trying to run as fast as I can and hammy wasn’t ready for that yet.”
A first-team All-American in 2023, Johnson played in just six games last season because of a painful turf toe injury that he said left him unable to run for a period of time.
He called the string of injuries “frustrating;” he also missed time with a shoulder injury last year. And while some questioned how hard he pushed to get back on the field last fall given his status as a potential top-10 pick, Johnson said “everyone in this building and coaches, players, they all knew what I was dealing with.”
“Couldn’t run, couldn’t walk at first in the boot, all that stuff,” he said. “So I mean, it sounds like a toe, but I want people that say it’s just a toe to go try to run and cut and do all those things without their big toe and see how that goes for you.”
Ranked the No. 10 prospect in the draft by ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr., Johnson said teams have peppered him with questions about his injuries during pre-draft interviews but none seem overly concerned with his missed time.
Johnson had two interceptions last season after picking off seven passes his first two years and finished his Michigan career as the school’s all-time leader in interceptions returned for a touchdown. He held opponents to a passer rating of 52.6 last season, up from 30.9 in 2023, according to Pro Football Focus.
“It’s been frustrating,” he said. “I mean, I’ve missed some games this season because of injury, ’cause the toe and then this hammy, but I mean that’s just what comes with it. So I know what I can do on the field and like you said, I got a lot of film out, so I’m just — I know I’ll go to the team that’s supposed to pick me, so I’m not too worried about it.”
Johnson was invited to April’s draft in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and said he plans to attend with family, an honor that’s typically reserved for the players most likely to be drafted in Round 1.
He has had pre-draft visits already with two teams that pick in the first half of Round 1 — the Atlanta Falcons (No. 15) and Arizona Cardinals (No. 16) — and has a third scheduled next month, with the Las Vegas Raiders (No. 6).
“I feel like I had a pretty good career here,” Johnson said. “Accomplished a lot of my goals, win a national championship, beat Ohio State, win Big Ten championship, so accomplished a lot of goals. But yeah, this season was tough. I mean, another goal was to do all those things this year, too, and I wasn’t able to be out there with the team.
“I did everything I could to be with the team and still help out the team in any way I could. But yeah, it was tough to not affect the game in a way I know I could and help the team get to that next level for sure.”
At the next level in the NFL, Johnson said he expects to impact games similar to how rookies Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean did this year for the Philadelphia Eagles. Mitchell had 12 pass breakups in 16 starts and finished runner-up for Defensive Rookie of the Year, while DeJean started nine games, was fourth in Rookie of the Year voting and returned an interception for a touchdown in the Super Bowl.
“I plan on having that type of year coming in and making an impact right now,” he said. “And the goal is always to help the team win first, win a Super Bowl, do all those things like those guys did do, and then try to get Rookie of the Year and all those goals, too. So that’s the plan.”
Dave Birkett will sign copies of his book, “Detroit Lions: An Illustrated Timeline,” at 7 p.m., March 24, at the Birmingham Public Library.
Order your copy here.
Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
Two employees who refused to serve a man and his wife because he was wearing a hoodie with President Trump’s name on it were fired after a video of the heated encounter went viral.
Erika Lindemyer and her husband, Jake, were forced out of a Smoothie King franchise location in Ann Arbor, Michigan, following a fiery clash with two young female workers on Sunday.
The employees claimed they didn’t “feel comfortable” serving the couple because of Jake’s pro-Trump hoodie, as captured by Erika in a viral video.
Jake and Erika fired back at the pair and insisted that they were being “discriminated” against based on their “political views.”
“We were just wanting a smoothie and you literally looked at us and I asked you if everything was OK and you said ‘We don’t feel comfortable serving you’ because of my husband’s hoodie. That is discrimination,” Erika spat.
“Okay, well, have a great day,” the first employee said.
“That is illegal,” Erika tried to insist again.
“I said Trump discriminates [against] us,” another employee chimed in.
“Okay, well that has nothing to do with us getting a smoothie!” Erika guffawed.
“OK, well that’s who you support though, that’s who you love,” the first employee chided.
“What’s embarrassing is that we’re American citizens and I wanted to get a smoothie,” Erika huffed.
The second employee noted that they “have a right to refuse service” and directed the couple to the exit.
“You asked a question and [the other employee] gave you an answer. Have a great day. Have a great day. The door’s right there,” the second worker said.
Trump merchandise. Leftism/X
Erika threatened to call the police while storming out, but it’s unclear if she did.
In a separate video shared Monday, one of the workers joked that she might’ve “accidentally started a race war” and called on the public to help remove Erika’s video.
“I am a minor and she recorded me without my permission. The people in the comments are all white and they’re all being hella racist, guys, please help me get this video taken down,” she implored.
Smoothie King confirmed that the girls involved in the viral confrontation “are no longer with the business” as of Monday.
“As a brand, Smoothie King is committed to ensuring our stores are a place free of discrimination of any kind, where every guest and team member is treated with care and respect,” the company wrote on X.
The owner of the Ann Arbor franchise location will also enforce “mandatory retraining for all employees that outlines our guest experience standards.”
In early December, a woman who worked at a Target in California was berated by a customer for wearing a Charlie Kirk “Freedom” T-shirt.
When the employee insisted she was allowed to wear the red shirt, the irate customer accused her of supporting “a racist.”
The medical center where the agitated customer worked was bombarded with upwards of 6,000 “profanity-laced” phone calls after online sleuths doxxed her personal information.
Ann Arbor — The Wolverines won the outright Big Ten regular-season title with two games to go, but it came at a great cost.
L.J. Cason, Michigan’s backup point guard and a key piece of the rotation, tore his right ACL in the championship-clinching win at Illinois. Just like that, Cason’s season was over and Michigan was hit with a brutal blow.
But when adversity strikes, opportunity knocks. While the team won’t be the same without Cason, coach Dusty May believes Michigan has backcourt pieces who can step up and make up for the loss.
“This is a great opportunity for Roddy (Gayle Jr.), Trey (McKenney) and Nimari (Burnett) to play more, and those guys are really good players,” May said Monday. “Our rotation has been nine and nine, I think, is too deep. It’s playing too many guys, if you want to optimize everyone. But we felt like we had nine guys that deserved to play, that gave us a different element.
“We look at this as another challenge, but it’s also an opportunity for guys to play a little bit more, to play longer periods, to play through a mistake, to play a little bit different role. We do feel like these guys are a lot better than they were earlier this year, so we’re prepared to handle whatever comes at us.”
May said he doesn’t know exactly when Cason tore his ACL, and neither does Cason. The sophomore guard fell to the court and got up favoring his right leg on two separate occasions against Illinois.
The first instance came in the final minute of the first half, when Cason tipped a long rebound ahead and chased it down to start a fast break. After he grabbed the ball in the air and bounced it backward between his legs to a trailing teammate, Cason went down. He got up hobbling, was subbed out and went back to the locker room.
Cason briefly checked back in during the second half and scored a driving layup a minute into his shift. But on Michigan’s next possession, he fell down after trying to score through contact and got up limping again. Shortly after that, Cason motioned to the Michigan bench to be taken out of the game and he exited for good.
“At halftime, the training staff came and said basically he’s passed all of his jump test. He just did the bike. He says he’s 100% ready to go. I was surprised, because I was expecting him to be out,” May said. “I said, ‘What about the test?’ They said both of his knees are loose, so it’s hard. We don’t feel that anything is torn.
“He comes back in. He lands funny again. … It’s unfortunate for him because he was playing so well. When an ACL pops on a noncontact injury, you’re like, ‘Man, what could we have done different?’ When it happens on a funny, quirky play, usually those are the ones that aren’t preventable.”
May added it hasn’t been determined yet when Cason will undergo surgery. Given the typical recovery timeline for a torn ACL ranges anywhere from nine to 12 months, May said Cason redshirting next season is a possibility that’s “on the table.”
“That’s certainly been discussed as well, and then that impacts the recruiting decision-making,” May said. “But right now, we’re still trying to figure out when he’s going to have it. What’s the timeline? Does it make sense to go ahead and sit out next year? … We haven’t made any definitive decisions, because all the information is so inconclusive.”
Moving forward, the plan isn’t to have just one guy replace Cason, who averaged 8.4 points and 2.4 assists in 18.6 minutes per game, shot 40.2% from 3-point range and served as a facilitator when starting point guard Elliot Cadeau wasn’t on the court. It’ll be a by-committee approach.
That said, Cason’s absence is certainly going to put much more on Cadeau’s shoulders. The Wolverines can ill afford to have Cadeau commit unnecessary fouls and miss long stretches at a time. Without Cason, Cadeau is the one guard who can break down opposing defenses off the dribble and create for others.
“This will force Elliot to be much more solid with his defensive decision-making when it comes to fouling,” May said. “He doesn’t have that insurance policy anymore named L.J. behind him, because L.J. came in and carried the load several games for our group. That’s not there anymore.”
While Burnett, Gayle and McKenney haven’t had to be facilitators in their roles this season, May expressed confidence all three can take on minutes with the ball in their hands and initiate the offense.
Even beyond the guards, May noted the team has “other capable weapons” who can serve as triggers on offense depending on the matchup, like forwards Yaxel Lendeborg and Morez Johnson Jr. and big man Aday Mara.
Add it all together, May feels the Wolverines can find a way to absorb the blow, fill the void and forge ahead with Cason sidelined.
“We have enough to overcome what L.J. brought to the team,” May said. “I don’t know if he’s the best backup point guard in the country, but I can’t think of one that’s better. We’re losing a lot, but once again, we’re not going to sit here and look at it from that angle.
“This is an opportunity for all these other guys to do a little bit more, and they’re more than capable. It’s on us to find the right rotations and situations. Without a doubt, we have a lot of confidence in our roster.”
jhawkins@detroitnews.com
@jamesbhawkins
The Michigan State Police is looking for the driver of a Jeep that the agency said hit one of its patrol cars on Lodge Freeway in Detroit Sunday night.
According to officials, the incident happened at 7:50 p.m. on the northbound side of the freeway near Shaefer Highway. The agency said a trooper was investigating a crash and had the patrol car parked on the right shoulder of the freeway with its emergency lights on when it was rear-ended by the Jeep.
“The impact forced the patrol car to strike the concrete wall on the right shoulder,” according to the agency.
The Jeep then went across three lanes of the freeway and hit a median wall, officials said. The driver, identified by law enforcement as a 29-year-old Detroit woman, left the vehicle and fled the scene.
Michigan State Police First Lieutenant Mike Shaw said that while the trooper was evaluated and cleared at the scene by medical personnel, he was still taken to the hospital as a precaution.
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