ANN ARBOR >> Michigan did not have a game last weekend, and the players, coming off a second loss of the season, said they embraced self-reflection in terms of their play during the lighter week that included two days off.

The same went for the coaches, according to head coach Sherrone Moore.

Michigan is ranked No. 24 and is 4-2, 2-1 Big Ten and preparing to play at No. 22 Illinois (5-1, 2-1) on Saturday afternoon. The Wolverines lost their last game, 27-17, at Washington on Oct. 5.

“I told everybody, myself, players, coaches, that was the message in the locker room,” Moore said of encouraging them to examine what has gone right and wrong the first half of the season. “It’s not time to panic, but we have to evaluate what we need to do and how we need to operate, and you saw that last week in practice, how we practiced, what we did in practice, and really into (Sunday) on how those guys practiced.

“They came out with a ton of energy, enthusiasm, but also a lot of detail on the little things and not so much of this holistic thing, but the little details are the things that will help us win, and we’ve got to continue to focus on that.”

The struggles in the first six games — and there have been plenty on both sides of the ball — are not limited to the players. The coaches have had slips and Moore said they all explored what has transpired in the first half of the season and will take steps toward improvement.

“You’re always self-evaluating, and this is a great time when you have a bi-weekly self-scout to see what you’ve done, how it’s effective, what’s worked, what hasn’t,” Moore said. “And you have the data, you have the film, so we did a lot of that, and I think it’s going to help us as we go through.”

Left tackle Myles Hinton and center Dominick Giudice missed the Washington game with injuries and Moore seemed optimistic Monday at his weekly news conference about their return for the Illinois game. They were expected to practice Monday.

“I feel like we’re in a good place with them all,” Moore said.

Jeff Persi started at left tackle and Greg Crippen, who has rotated in at center this season, started against Washington and made strong impressions, Moore said. What hasn’t made a generally strong impression the first half of the season is the play of the offensive line.

Left guard Josh Priebe said Monday there are no issues with chemistry among the offensive linemen.

“We’ve already had a decent amount of guys rotating at different positions like center with Dom and Crip and those guys,” Priebe said. “The chemistry is already in a good place from that perspective because we already had a lot of opportunities to play with different lines and different people in those positions. With Jeff Persi, I’ve had a lot of reps with him at spring ball, so we already have some good chemistry there.”

Michigan ranks 119th in total offense and 130th in passing offense, while on the positive side, the Wolverines are averaging 191.3 yards rushing, which ranks 39th nationally. The offensive line has certainly been better at run blocking versus pass blocking, but the overall play has been uneven.

With that in mind and the last week off to evaluate every position, Moore would not commit to whether the offensive line will remain the same as it was the first five games of the season before injuries forced the two changes at Washington.

Only Hinton is guaranteed is starting position at left tackle, but it’s unclear whether Evan Link, who started the first six games at right tackle, will remain the starter and whether Giudice will resume his role as starting center.

“We’ll see,” Moore said. “You know, if Myles is back, then I think Myles will be the starter at left tackle, and then we’ll see at right tackle. I thought Crip did a really good job (at center). He did a really good job controlling the line of scrimmage for us with the call, especially in that environment, being pretty calm.

“But he’s been a guy that’s traveled to different places, seen it. It looks like he’ll cement himself there and continue to work there. We’ll see what happens with Dom, and Persi gives us great experience being an older guy, so it gives us a challenge at the other spot (right tackle) to see what he can do.”

Asked if there’s an active competition at right tackle, Moore said there’s always competition.

Injury update

Defensive back Ja’Den McBurrows remains out with an unconfirmed injury. Moore had said late last month that McBurrows would miss an extended amount of time this season.

There has been some hope safety and captain Rod Moore, who suffered a torn knee ligament in the spring, could return late this season.

“Still progressing,” coach Sherrone Moore said. “I can’t really speak on the exact timeline or the date, but he’s still progressing in a good way.”