He was reinstated to the team that evening with the option of playing Saturday in the Spartans’ game at Iowa.

“In terms of the timing of it all, I would have done nothing different,” Dantonio said. “I believe that whenever you have a problem, you need to get out in front as best as you can and handle the problem. I think we did that. That problem was not resolved until Thursday.”

Rucker sat out the first two series of Saturday’s game before entering with the Spartans trailing 17-0. He didn’t have much of an impact in the 37-6 loss.

Rucker spoke to reporters after practice Tuesday for the first time since the suspension.

“It was a long process, and I’ve definitely learned a lot,” he said. “Just the support of my teammates and my coaches, it really helped me through the entire process.”

The decision to reinstate Rucker drew heavy criticism, but Dantonio said reinstatement was in Rucker’s best interest.

“He failed, and he’ll have to live with those consequences and the public scrutiny of those consequences for the rest of his life, but I still have to say to him, ‘Look, you didn’t do the right thing, but we can fix this for you in terms of coming back in the family,’” Dantonio said.

“You always try to remedy the situation and not just disregard it, and that’s what I chose to do.”

Rucker is listed as the No. 1 cornerback on the depth chart for Saturday’s game against Minnesota (noon, Big Ten Network). Rucker said he hopes he can make good on another opportunity presented by the team.

“I really appreciate everything they’ve done for me because this is another opportunity for me to prove myself and make good on a bad decision I made,” he said.

Dennard update

True freshman cornerback Darqueze Dennard, who started against Illinois and Northwestern while Rucker served his suspension, didn’t play Saturday because of a knee injury he suffered last week.

Dennard is listed as the backup to sophomore Johnny Adams at the other cornerback position.

Dantonio said Tuesday Dennard is “day-to-day” and won’t have surgery.

Long ride back

Dantonio said junior quarterback Kirk Cousins was among several players who did some “soul-searching” on the ride back from Iowa. Cousins was 21-for-29 for 198 yards and a touchdown, but he threw three costly interceptions in Saturday’s loss.

Dantonio said he’s confident Cousins will bounce back from the performance Saturday.

“A lot of people were soul-searching on the way back,” Dantonio said. “He works extremely hard and is extremely conscientious. It bothers you when you don’t play well.”