When redshirt junior center David Molk stepped up to the podium to address the media during the Michigan football team's weekly press conference on Monday, he did so with the unbridled enthusiasm of someone who was just selected for jury duty.

His face said it was the last place he wanted to be, but his words said a little more when he was asked what the players thought of the media criticism of Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez:

"I could care less," Molk said. "I don't think I've ever read or listened to a single media thing that you guys have ever put out. So, I mean, I could care less."

To be fair to Molk, he was already agitated when he was asked how it felt to sit out last year's Illinois game.

"I mean I've answered this question probably 300,000 times at every media event I've ever been to," he said. "Obviously it's not good. I don't like sitting at home watching it with my leg up."

At least Molk had heard that question before. Rodriguez confronts new questions every day, and with each loss they get a little tougher.

But he takes them mostly in stride. When confronted with the recent rumors of defensive coordinator Greg Robinson getting demoted, Rodriguez said he didn't take it seriously.

"I laughed," Rodriguez said when asked about his reaction to hearing the rumor. "It's just, 'Here are some more rumors.' "

But even Rodriguez let his frustration show just a little.

"We've dealt with quite a few of them these past few years, haven't we?" he said, addressing the rumors with a sarcastic smile.

When the Wolverines were 5-0 earlier this season, the player-media interactions were a little different. Junior wideout Darryl Stonum entertained us with wild outfits. Redshirt freshman Taylor Lewan captivated the media for almost 45 minutes with what's best described as a one-man comedy show.

But now, the questions are harsher and so are the players' dispositions (see: Molk). But the media criticism, especially that focused on Rodriguez, doesn't only affect the players. There are Rodriguez's children, Raquel and Rhett. When asked whether he tried to shield them from some of what's said about him, he said that's tough to do.

"It's hard to shield them," Rodriguez said. "I guess, for lack of a better word, they're more 'worldly' than you would expect a 14- and 12-year-old to be."

And what about the player on whom the media spotlight has been brightest, sophomore quarterback Denard Robinson? If he wasn't so nice, his attitude toward the media could be considered disdainful, but the massive grin always plastered on his face suggests he's more disinterested than anything.

Robinson treats media attention, negative or positive, like so many opposing defenders: he either lets it bounce off of him or he avoids it entirely.

And it's a good thing, too. If he'd internalized anything said about him at the beginning of the year, he would be addressing the media on a throne and insisting we call him "Your Highness." The way the media, myself included, has pumped him up, it's remarkable his head still fits inside a winged helmet.

Molk himself talked after the Notre Dame game, when the Robinson hype may have been at its craziest, saying there was no chance Robinson will let it affect him simply because he doesn't like media attention.

One way Robinson avoids that attention is by eschewing cable television, which he doesn't get at home. At one point this season, it seemed like the only way.

But despite Robinson's stellar performance against Penn State, as long as the losses keep piling up, the negative media attention will continue. Rodriguez especially will continue to be asked the tough questions about his tenuous hold on his job, how many wins he needs to hold on and the looming possibility of missing yet another bowl.

My advice to Rodriguez, if the losing continues ...

Take a page out of your starting quarterback's book and snip your cable connection.

Stapleton can be reached at jstaple@umich.edu.