ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan cornerback Ja’Den McBurrows continues to require medical attention for facial injuries he received in Saturday’s postgame attack by Michigan State players inside the Michigan Stadium tunnel, his mother told The Athletic.

Kerrie Bryan, McBurrows’ mother, said the family is still trying to “piece everything together” and weighing its legal options as the Big Ten and University of Michigan police investigate. Gemon Green, the other Michigan player injured in the attack, has retained sports lawyer Tom Mars to pursue legal action against the Michigan State players involved.

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In a statement provided to The Athletic, Mars said Green suffered a concussion and other injuries after being struck by a helmet, a scene captured in video that became public Sunday on social media.

“Severe consequences in this case will deter others who might think they can get away with brutally beating an opposing player and only get a slap on the wrist,” Mars said. “I’ve got news for the MSU players who did this to Gemon. They are going to feel the full wrath of the law.”

Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh said Green and McBurrows were walking up the tunnel together after Michigan’s 29-7 victory when Green was punched by a player from Michigan State. McBurrows came to Green’s defense, Harbaugh said, and was thrown to the ground in an area of the tunnel where reporters gather for the visiting team’s postgame news conference.

“This has been a very traumatic experience for everybody, especially Ja’Den and Gemon,” Harbaugh said.

Harbaugh didn’t elaborate on either player’s condition, except to say that they were injured in the attack and that Green’s status for Saturday’s game against Rutgers is uncertain. Bryan confirmed that McBurrows was being evaluated for a possible broken nose.

“He’s still going to the doctors now,” Bryan said. “They have to do more evaluation with his face because he has a lot going on with his face.”

Bryan said she attended Saturday’s game in Ann Arbor with her older son. Her older son had a medical emergency during the game, and Bryan said she was attending to him when the attack happened in the tunnel. It wasn’t until later, after her older son’s issue had been resolved, that Bryan learned what happened to McBurrows.

“I’m dealing with a lot right now,” she said.

McBurrows is a sophomore from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., who hasn’t played this season while recovering from a knee injury. Bryan said she spoke briefly with McBurrows after the game before returning to Florida.

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“He was just very upset,” she said. “He wasn’t saying much. He was very upset about the way everything happened.”

Michigan State announced the suspension of four players — linebacker Tank Brown, cornerback Khary Crump, safety Angelo Grose and defensive end Zion Young — late Sunday in what athletic director Alan Haller described as “preliminary action” based on “alarming evidence” reviewed by coach Mel Tucker and Michigan State’s athletic department. Haller said he has been in contact with Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel and Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren to “offer our apologies and to ensure our collaboration with law enforcement as they conduct investigations into this matter.”

At his regularly scheduled Monday news conference, Harbaugh began with a statement describing the attack as “egregious” and “sickening” while reiterating the need for a “full, thorough, timely investigation.”

“An apology will not get the job done in this instance,” Harbaugh said, adding that he has not spoken with Tucker since the incident.

Videos circulating on social media show a Michigan State player swinging his helmet at Green and a group of players surrounding McBurrows, throwing him to the ground and appearing to kick him. In addition to videos shot by reporters in the tunnel, Michigan has security footage of the incident and video from ABC’s tunnel camera. Harbaugh said those videos paint a clear picture of the nature of what happened.

“I can’t imagine this will not result in criminal charges,” Harbaugh said. “The videos are bad. It’s clear what transpired. It seems very open and shut. As they say, watch the tape.”

During his news conference Monday, Tucker said the Michigan State suspensions will remain in place until conference and law enforcement investigations are complete. He declined to comment on Harbaugh’s expectation of criminal charges.

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Saturday’s incident has fueled discussion about the tunnel protocol at Michigan Stadium, something that became an issue after a verbal confrontation between the Wolverines and Penn State at halftime of Michigan’s victory on Oct. 15. Penn State coach James Franklin called for a Big Ten policy to enforce separation of the teams as they walk to their locker rooms, something Harbaugh dismissed last week as “whining.”

Harbaugh said the responsibility for Saturday’s incident rests with the Michigan State players involved, not with the tunnel protocol or the heated nature of the Michigan-Michigan State rivalry. Harbaugh didn’t offer a reason why Green and McBurrows left the field before the rest of their teammates but said it’s not unusual for players to do so.

“I don’t buy any excuse that’s going to be laid off on the rivalry or the tunnel or any other thing that somebody could possibly blame,” Harbaugh said. “These are the actions of these individuals, and they need to be accountable for them.”

Michigan players who spoke to reporters after the game hadn’t seen the videos and were learning in real time what transpired. With a day to digest, running back Blake Corum and safety Rod Moore described feeling frustrated, disappointed and helpless when they watched the footage.

“I’m real close with Ja’Den,” Moore said. “Just to see that first video of him, I couldn’t keep watching it.”

The fourth-ranked Wolverines are 8-0 with Big Ten championship and College Football Playoff aspirations at stake entering the final month of the regular season. Getting refocused for Saturday’s game at Rutgers is a theme for the week, but Corum acknowledged it hasn’t been easy. The incident continues to weigh heavily on everyone’s mind, both in the outside world and inside the walls of Schembechler Hall.

“Teams talk, but it never ended up being a fight,” Corum said. “It’s OK to talk trash and do that, but when you start doing other things, it’s like, ‘C’mon, are we really doing this?’ I know as a man, I wouldn’t have felt good ganging up on a couple players. That’s just not how I roll.”

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The Michigan-Michigan State rivalry is a notoriously bitter affair with a long history of vitriol. Trash talking and hits after the whistle are commonplace, but even allowing for the hatred between these two programs, the ugliness of Saturday’s attack left a sense of shock.

“Who would expect at a rivalry game with police officers to not protect these kids?” Bryan said. “At a big game like this, who would have ever expected this?”

 (Photo: Aaron J. Thornton / Getty Images)