CHAMPAIGN - From Ron Zook's standpoint, brothers and sisters will fight even in the tightest of families.

In the case of the Illini football team, last weekend's family feud left freshman running back Mikel LeShoure with a broken jaw.

The feuding football brother turns out to be Jeff Cumberland, a 6-foot-5, 250-pound wide receiver, and Zook reiterated Tuesday that the matter is being handled internally.

"It was a family dispute," Zook said at his weekly press briefing Tuesday. "We are going to handle it like you would a family dispute. But things do happen. I'm not making light of it, but it's something we will deal with within the team, in a family manner.

LeShoure will not play Saturday and could be out much longer.

As for Cumberland, Zook would not say what discipline he has in mind. But he did say Cumberland will be in uniform when Illinois plays Western Michigan University Saturday at Ford Field in Detroit.

Since teams are restricted to bringing 70 players on road trips, it is assumed Cumberland would not make the trip unless he was available to play."It's something we'll deal with," Zook said. "Yes, he'll be in uniform. Everyone wants to speculate, but this is a family matter and it's something I won't talk about."

That said, Zook agreed that, fairly or unfairly, coaches are judged by the conduct of their players.

"Absolutely," Zook said. "Here's my deal on that: I try to treat these guys like they are my own kids and like I'd want my own children to be dealt with. I won't apologize for the way we discipline my players.

"We have good kids. We have situations, and every one is different.

"If I had a son, I would want him to play for our staff because I know this: They will get treated as family. They will be treated the way they need to be treated. If there's something to be taken care of, it will be taken care of.

"I know what I know, and what's the most important thing to me is these young guys' lives and their feelings and this football team."

Zook said the incident has not affected team unity.

"Not in this case. It's absolutely not one iota of what I'm concerned with," he said. "Things do happen. If it's something that needs to be dealt with, I will deal with it and do it quickly."

Zook said if anything, he has been accused of being too quick with his discipline.

Without offering an example, in March 2007, wide receivers Derrick McPhearson and Jody Ellis were kicked off the team just hours after pleading not guilty to felony burglary and theft charges for stealing wallets, cell phones and laptop computers.

At the time, McPhearson had been one of Zook's highest-profile recruits.

Illini players sloughed off the incident and said team unity had not been affected.

"It's a big family," said kicker Matt Eller, whose 46-yard field goal with 21 seconds to play helped beat Iowa 27-24 Saturday. "I grew up with brothers and sisters, and all we did was fight. We realize we're close and you'll get things like this that happen."

Zook implied the details of the incident were factors in his handling of it.

"Anything that happens like that is not good. But it's not always as bad as it sounds, either."

Even with LeShoure out, Illinois will have three tailbacks available against Western Michigan.

In addition to freshman Jason Ford and redshirt freshman Troy Pollard, junior Daniel Dufrene returns after a one-week hiatus to deal with a personal issue. Dufrene leads Illinois in rushing with 539 yards and an average of 5.6 yards per carry.

"Daniel is fine," Zook said. "He came up to me last night and said, `Thanks, coach. I really appreciate it and coach, I promise I won't let you down.' And he won't."

"He is excited to be back. He looks pretty good to me."

In addition, Zook said Pollard, who has battled back from an early-season ankle injury, could carry much more of the load if needed.

"In the Indiana game, a lot of those carries Jason got were (going to be Troy's)," said Zook, who indicated that Ford got extra work because he was so effective. "Troy is 100 percent and ready to go.

"The week before the Indiana game, you could tell he was back. He wasn't 100 percent before that. Sometimes a high ankle sprain is worse than a break. There's not a lot of blood flow, and it takes a lot of time to heal."

mtupper@herald-review.com|421-7983