Michigan State football reinstates one suspended player; those charged still banned

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Michigan State football coach Mel Tucker has reinstated one of the eight players who were suspended for the Oct. 29 incident in the Michigan Stadium tunnel.

Tucker said after the Spartans’ 35-16 loss at No. 10 Penn State on Saturday those who were charged remain suspended but that he reinstated Malcom Jones, the one player who was not charged Wednesday. Jones practiced Thursday and Friday but did not travel to PSU, Tucker said.

On Wednesday, defensive back Khary Crump was charged with a felonious assault by the Washtenaw County Prosecutor’s Office. Six others — linebacker/defensive end Jacoby Windmon; defensive ends Zion Young, Itayvion “Tank” Brown and Brandon Wright; and defensive backs Angelo Grose and Justin White — were charged with one count of misdemeanor aggravated assault.

“I don't have any updates on the other seven guys right now,” Tucker said, adding, “I don't have enough information to give you any more updates.”

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Senior safety Xavier Henderson said he has talked to the players who remain suspended.

“Not really about the situation, though,” Henderson said. “Just saying what's up, checking in on them, checking in on their mental (state). But not really about the situation specifically.”

Quarterback Payton Thorne said he also has checked in with his teammates.

“You miss those guys and hope they're doing well,” Thorne said. “Most all of them are really good people that got caught in a bad situation. And you feel terrible for them, because obviously it's coming down pretty hard on them. And it just stinks. It just shows that, you know, wrong place-wrong time type thing. ...

“You feel for those guys. We got their back, and we're there for them.”

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MSU traveled a skeleton roster to Beaver Stadium for its regular-season finale, which could be the final game of 2022 after failing to get to six wins.

The Spartans played without a number of key players who did not make the trip to Beaver Stadium: Cornerbacks Charles Brantley and Ronald Williams, along with safety Jaden Mangham in the secondary; Jarrett Horst, Matt Carrick and Brian Greene on the offensive line; and defensive ends Jeff Pietrowski, Khris Bogle and Jalen Hunt, who moved outside from defensive tackle to help offset the losses on the edge.

“It's been like this since Week 3,” Tucker said of the glut of injuries, “so there's no excuses.”

Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari. Read more on the Michigan State Spartans and sign up for our Spartans newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State football reinstates one of eight suspended players