Michigan does not have a game this weekend, and head coach Sherrone Moore said the team is using the time for players to get healthy while also preparing for the final two regular-season games.

The Wolverines (5-5, 3-4 Big Ten) need a win to become bowl eligible, and their best shot is when they host Northwestern (4-5, 2-4) on Nov. 23. Michigan then plays at Ohio State (8-1, 5-1), which is No. 2 in the College Football Playoff rankings.

Michigan has lost four of its last five games, including two straight to No. 1 Oregon and unbeaten Indiana.

“The biggest thing is you’re trying to get better, but you really have to focus on the things you have to do to help yourself win,” Moore said Monday night on the “Inside Michigan Football” radio show. “We got Northwestern next week, and then we’ve got that team down south (Ohio State) the week after. I told the staff (Monday), our only job right now is to go win these two games and not think about anything else. We’ve got to go get better this week so go put together the best plans we’ve ever put together for Northwestern and have our thought process for Ohio State.”Michigan’s defense was a tone-setter in the second half at Indiana and gave the Wolverines a chance to win, but the offense sputtered. Still, despite losing five games coming off a national championship season in 2023, this team has been resilient and continues to work.

Having a week without a game for which to prepare is always helpful in terms of resting and recovering from injuries, but it can affect a team’s momentum. While Michigan is sitting at .500, the players haven’t quit. The coaches must now help the players maintain that attitude ahead of the final two games.

“I want to continue the juice, the energy,” Moore said. “It’s easy, it’s human nature, for a lot of guys to (think), you’re 5-5, you’re not where you want to be. It’s human nature for a lot of people to coast and think about the next steps and think about what they should do next.”

With that in mind, Moore said he has spoken to several of the NFL Draft-eligible players — like defensive tackles Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant, tight end Colston Loveland, and cornerback Will Johnson — to get a feel for where they are in terms of finishing the season or shutting things down to prepare for the draft.

“There’s zero thought process about that,” Moore said of the players wanting to focus on the draft right now. “All those guys want to do is go win, and that’s the cool thing about this team and the people around here. Our job now is to go try and win.”

Johnson has missed the last three games with an injury, described during a television broadcast as a toe injury. He also missed the Minnesota game on Sept. 28 and most of the game at Illinois on Oct. 19. Moore said Johnson, who has two pick-sixes this season, has been running “a little bit” this week and will see how he feels going into next week.

“He’s working toward it,” Moore said of Johnson returning. “He’s gonna try. He wants to play.”

Moore, in his first season as head coach, said he isn’t immune to the distress of a season that hasn’t been as successful as he had hoped.

“(It’s) super difficult because I’m a competitor and I don’t like losing at all,” Moore said. “Never have, never will. It’s been fun because I have the players, I have the staff, and I get to walk in here and be a part of this great university, but it hasn’t been fun because you don’t want to let anyone down. You don’t want to let the players down, the fans, the university, the alumni, your family. I think about that tirelessly. Sometimes I don’t sleep over it. But I think that’s part of it and part of the job.

“My job now is to make sure we continue in the right direction, and we will.”