There’s no doubt that the Wolverines’ defense, and especially their secondary, has been ravaged by injuries this season.

But when looking at Purdue’s offense, another injury-depleted corps, Michigan’s defense should definitely be counting its blessings.

The Boilermakers lost their No. 1 quarterback, Robert Marve; No. 1 running back Ralph Bolden; and No. 1 wide receiver, Keith Smith, all to ACL tears this season. Then, after mobile quarterback Rob Henry took over for Marve, he suffered an injury himself and is still dealing with a hand laceration that has bothered him for more than two weeks.

So Purdue coach Danny Hope will test third-string, true freshman quarterback Sean Robinson against Michigan’s anemic secondary this Saturday. But the Wolverines know their track record with young, unheralded quarterbacks after a certain loss to a walk-on quarterback on a different team hurt by injuries (Penn State).

“They’ve had some injuries at quarterback,” Rodriguez said in his Monday press conference. “But they’ve got some fast, skilled kids on their perimeter and they play extremely hard, especially at home.”

With that many injuries, Purdue’s offense has struggled mightily this season, often unable to move the ball, especially against tough Big Ten defenses. The Boilermakers (2-3 Big Ten, 4-5 overall) are dead last in the Big Ten and 104th overall in the NCAA for total offense. Compared to the Wolverines’ fifth-ranked offense, Purdue probably won’t make similar fireworks on that side of the ball, even with Michigan’s weak secondary.

But Rodriguez refuses to count out Purdue because the Boilermakers have upset the Wolverines in their past two meetings. Purdue also knocked Ohio State out of national title contention last year.

And after Michigan (2-3, 6-3) blew a 24-10 second-half lead last season in embarrassing fashion, Rodriguez said Monday that his players won’t be riding too high after last week’s 67-65 marathon win. They remember how last season’s hopes of a postseason basically went out the window with last year’s loss to the Boilermakers.

“Everybody’s just clueless,” then-junior cornerback Troy Woolfolk told the Daily after last year’s 38-36 loss. “We’re trying out there. We still go back every Monday and study. But game day, we just seem to forget stuff. I’m not sure what it is. We’re gonna get it fixed.”

The Wolverines have had some similar problems this season, especially on defense, but after Rodriguez clinched his first six-win, bowl-eligible season last week against the Illini, the problems don’t seem as serious for Michigan’s coach.

And with sophomore quarterback Denard Robinson back and healthy this weekend, some of the problems on defense might not matter much. Robinson is averaging 41 more yards per game than the entire Purdue offense this season.

Rodriguez said this week that Robinson had experienced symptoms of a concussion against Illinois, and that was why the Wolverines held him out.

“He had some signs or symptoms of not being completely there,” Rodriguez said Monday. “Certainly for precautionary reasons, the trainers wanted to hold him out.”

But he’ll be OK for this weekend’s matchup, and with Michigan focused on improving their bowl standing, this matchup with Purdue may be its best chance to put another ‘W’ on its resume before the season ends.

INJURY UPDATE: Rodriguez said during Wednesday's teleconference that the Wolverines could be without senior linebacker and Big Ten tackling leader Jonas Mouton, who’s dealing with a chest injury. He's listed as questionable on this week's injury report.

“I don't think there's structural damage,” Rodriguez said. “But there's muscular issues that are causing some pain, and it's kind of a day-to-day thing. He's a tough guy, and if he can play and is cleared by the trainers, he'll be ready to go."

Redshirt freshman running back Fitz Toussaint may also get his first action in a while after he practiced this week, despite his ailing shoulder. He's listed as probable … Junior nose tackle Mike Martin has been hobbled by injuries and limited this week but should play on Saturday.