ANN ARBOR -- Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson this season overcame a staph infection that was bad enough that coach Brady Hoke feared losing his starting quarterback for an unspecified period of time, Hoke revealed Friday.

Hoke said he doesn't remember when Robinson contracted the infection, but it is believed it happened the week of the Big Ten opener against Minnesota when Robinson wore a cast on his right (throwing) arm. At the time, Hoke called the injury a "boo boo."

"There was some concern," Hoke said. "Those things are funny. They're not funny, they're serious. You want to make sure you're doing everything the right way to help him through it and we got a great medical staff here and they did a tremendous job."

Hoke said no other Wolverines were affected by staph and that Robinson was never ordered to stay away from his teammates or the practice facility.

"I'm probably making more out of it than there is to it," Hoke said.

Robinson also battled injuries to his hand and abdominal, Hoke said.

"He's a tough guy," Hoke said. "He played with it.

In other news, Hoke said he expects all of his assistant coaches to return in 2012. He said he knows new Illinois coach Tim Beckman, who was at Toledo, and that Beckman is a "good coach."

First Published December 9, 2011, 7:21 p.m.