EAST LANSING – Michigan State survived another tough test at home but not without an injury concern moving forward.

Freshman guard Jase Richardson injured his left ankle with a little more than a minute to play in Tuesday’s 83-75 win against Samford.

“It was a significant, it looked like, sprain but he was happy in the locker room so I think he’s going to be OK,” coach Tom Izzo said after the game. “I just don’t know how long he’ll be out but he’s going to miss a few days, there’s no question about that.”

With the Spartans (4-1) leading by 11, Richardson appeared to roll his ankle while defending Josh Holloway on a missed layup down the late. He remained on the floor in pain under the basket as the Bulldogs (4-2) took advantage and hit a 3-pointer before officials finally noticed the injury and stopped play amid complaints from fans. Richardson walked off the floor with help and made it to the bench while being looked at by trainer Nick Richey.

Richardson was receiving treatment during the time reporters spoke with players in the locker room after the game.

“I’m not a doctor but it seems to be a sprain. … I’m sure they’ll X-Ray it and MRI it, they’ll go through it,” Izzo said. “I told him he could take a day off but not two and he said that’s fine with him.”

Richardson, the son of former standout Spartan and NBA star Jason Richardson, has been impressive early this season. The former four-star recruit has scored in double figures three of the first five games and tied his season high with 12 points on Tuesday. He also chipped in three rebounds, three assists, four steals and a block in 25 minutes.

“I thought Jase Richardson was phenomenal,” Izzo said. “He just looked comfortable to me. It’s going to take me a little time to understand him, it’s going to take him a little time to understand things but he’s very smooth and doesn’t panic and did a hell of a job.”

Through the first two weeks of the season, Richardson is fourth on the team in scoring at 8.4 points per game while shooting 62.5 percent (15-for-24) from the floor and making all nine free throws. He also has only one turnover with 11 assists while looking a lot more advanced than an average freshman.

“The moment’s never too big for him,” Izzo said.

Richardson has already carved out a big role for the Spartans, whose next test will come in the Maui Invitational. They open the three-game tournament against Colorado (4-0) on Monday and will face either two-time defending champion and No. 2 UConn or Memphis in the second game. The other half of the bracket includes No. 3 Auburn, No. 5 Iowa State and No. 10 North Carolina. Richardson’s availability will likely be a major factor in Michigan State’s success on the trip.

“He said it kind of wasn’t as bad after that little bit of time went by,” senior guard Jaden Akins recalled Richardson saying about the injury, “so hopefully he’ll be good because we need him.”

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State quarterback Aidan Chiles had a solid outing against Illinois, throwing for 256 yards and two touchdowns and, for the first time this season, didn’t commit a turnover.

Chiles has shown signs of improvement but still isn’t quite where the Spartans need him to be. And that goes for the whole offense as a whole. Chiles and the entire unit have the potential to be great.

With two games remaining, they want to show they are capable of it.

Chiles addressed the media on Tuesday, discussing the season so far, the loss to Illinois and this final stretch of the year.

You can watch below:

Below is a transcript from Michigan State coach Jonathan Smith’s opening statement of his press conference on Monday:

“OK, quick turnaround. but going back on Saturday after fully digesting the tape, lack of complementary football, really all three phases, there wasn’t enough there. There were some really good things in all three phases, but not enough to make it a lot closer in the fourth quarter and ultimately, win the game. And again, credit to Illinois. I thought they did a nice job a couple of facets schematically, tweaked a couple times in protection that we couldn’t get home, especially on third down, that they blocked up real well. And their quarterback made some good throws when there was needed, especially on some of those third-and-longers. Offensively, up front, we need to establish some things better. Protection wasn’t as good as even I thought. It wasn’t great on the field looking at it again, there’s a lot of edges there. Aidan [Chiles] did a nice job getting ball out a few times. We can protect the guy better, and we’re going to need to. Special teams-wise, we had to execute in the punt — you look at the yardage, when we were punting the ball, net, how much, I mean, we’ve lost that side of things, their punt return, our punt. Again, going off of the previous week, we were at protection issues, now we had a little more hang time and eliminate some of those hidden yards on special teams. So, like I said, quick turnaround moving forward. Practiced this morning. Guys are back to work. There’s definitely some disappointment, frustration, but I thought, looking at the work, they’re putting that effort and the energy, emotion into the practice today. Because that is a quick turnaround, and it felt like guys were moving around full speed. So, liked the work we got done today. Because looking at Purdue, you watch this tape, they’ve been able to move the ball. They’ve had some lighter scoring, just because some of the red zone [struggles], similar to us. You look at their schedule and the opponents, they played. A bunch of top five teams, and that’s what this league is and all of that. So, we’ll know we’ll have a challenge Friday night.”

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Times are currently tough for former Michigan State Spartans star Kirk Cousins.

Now in his first season with the Atlanta Falcons, Cousins and Co. got off to a good start, going 6-3 over their first nine games.

Much of that was due to a few monster performances from Cousins, like when he threw for 509 yards and four touchdowns during the Falcons’ overtime win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Oct. 3.

But all of a sudden, things have gotten more difficult for Cousins and Atlanta.

The Falcons have lost their last two games, and Cousins failed to throw a touchdown pass in either contest.

As a result, some are wondering if Atlanta could potentially trade Cousins in the offseason if things continue going south. Remember: the Falcons also selected Michael Penix Jr. with the eighth overall pick of the NFL Draft last April.

So, if Atlanta does ultimately decide to place Cousins on the trade block, where could he go?

Well, Ryan Dunleavy of The New York Post has offered an interesting potential destination: the New York Giants.

The Giants just benched Daniel Jones, meaning they will obviously be looking for a new quarterback in the spring. While they will most likely find one via the draft, there is also the chance they explore the trade market.

“Maybe it’s a pipe dream. But the Giants’ regime could be under win-now pressure,” Dunleavy wrote. “Cousins has 2024 No. 8 overall draft pick Michael Penix Jr. breathing down his neck. The Falcons would have a $60 million dead salary-cap charge and Cousins has a no-trade clause.”

Calling it “a pipe dream” is probably the best way to put it.

It seems highly doubtful that New York would pursue the 36-year-old Cousins when it seems blatantly obvious that the team is in need of a reset.

While fixing the quarterback position should be Mission No. 1 for the Giants during the offseason, Big Blue has more issues afoot, and adding a signal-caller closing in on retirement would not be the most efficient use of resources.

Cousins could very well be a trade candidate in March, but the chances of New York representing an actual landing spot for him seem slim to none.

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