Some quick items from Tuesday's media availability with the Gophers:

* Coach Jerry Kill said safety Brock Vereen (knee injury) and cornerback Derrick Wells (shoulder injury) should both be able to play Saturday at Michigan.

* Kill sounded less optimistic about fullback Mike Henry (rib injury). He said Henry will be riding a bike today, a sign he could be a ways from returning.

Asked how much the Gophers missed their starting fullback in Saturday's loss to Iowa, Kill said, "A lot. Sometimes until somebody's gone, you never know how much you miss them."

The Gophers wound up using Maxx Williams at fullback, instead of using him at tight end.

"We had to move people around because of [Henry's] injury. I probably should have played Gabe Mezzenga [at fullback] much more and left Maxx alone. We moved [Drew] Goodger, and we had a lot of moving parts we probably shouldn't have had. And you learn; we should have handled it a little bit differently.

"I think it hurt us. I think it hurt our execution that we had two or three guys out of position. Not good on our part."