Jake Butt exits Orange Bowl with knee injury, knocking Michigan down two stars

Butt sustained an apparent knee injury in the first half and did not return

Already without linebacker Jabrill Peppers, who did not dress for the game with a hamstring injury suffered during practice Thursday, Michigan found itself without its best red zone weapon in the Orange Bowl.

Tight end Jake Butt did not return against Florida State after suffering an apparent knee injury. After a 33-32 loss, coach Jim Harbaugh said Butt's injury was either to his ACL or MCL.

Butt went down in the first quarter of the Orange Bowl when he was tackled awkwardly inside the red zone. He immediately clutched his knee and was visually in a lot of pain, but he was able to stand up and eventually jogged into the locker room.

Butt, a senior and John Mackey Award winner as the nation's best tight end, was the team's second-leading receiver with 518 yards and four touchdowns.

He is headed to the NFL Draft after the season and will do so with some loss-of-value insurance, which should only come into play if his injury is serious and casts doubts about his health heading into the NFL Combine.

Jake Butt took out $4M in total disability insurance. Took out $2M in loss of value insurance, would start collecting after Rd 2.

— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) December 31, 2016