UPDATE, 4:17 p.m. Pete Thamel is reporting Braxton Miller has a torn labrum in his throwing shoulder and will indeed miss the season.
SOURCE: OSU's Braxton Miller has a torn labrum in right (throwing) shoulder. Will miss season. http://t.co/KovLkvpm3A
— Pete Thamel (@SIPeteThamel) August 19, 2014
Ohio State senior quarterback Braxton Miller will miss the 2014 season, according to ESPN.com reporter Brett McMurphy.
Ohio State QB Braxton Miller is out for the season, a source told @ESPN
— Brett McMurphy (@McMurphyESPN) August 19, 2014
Miller appeared to dislocate his surgically-repaired throwing shoulder during the team's afternoon practice Monday. He collapsed onto the field before medical personnel carted him off back to the Woody Hayes Athletic Center where family later met him there. He left in a sling. He had an MRI Tuesday morning, though the results of the examination remain unclear. An Ohio State spokesman said the school planned on releasing a statement this afternoon.
Miller, a Heisman hopeful and the crux of a new-look Buckeye offense, had "minor, outpatient" surgery in February to repair damage suffered against Clemson in the Orange Bowl. He missed spring ball to recover and was cleared to throw in early July.
Head coach Urban Meyer told hundreds of reporters Miller was "in the best shape of his life" at Big Ten Media Days in Chicago three weeks ago, but questions about his health mounted after he was curiously limited during the team's training camp.
Meyer and the coaching staff said it was part of a plan to ease Miller back into the swing of things after having not thrown the ball on such a consistent basis since the loss to the Tigers in January. It seemed bizarre, though, with the season opener against Navy just two weeks away.
"From what they tell me, he’s right on schedule, you’d like to have him to do a bit more but he did scrimmage today and attitude’s great. He’ll be ready,” Meyer said Saturday. “I’ve known Braxton for three years and it’s almost like looking at your son, you can see in his face if he’s concerned. And he’s not.”
In between Ohio State's two-a-day practices Monday, Miller said he was "100 percent" and reiterated "it's part of the plan, we talk about it every day.”
Added offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Tom Herman: "I'm not ready to say concerned is the right word. Not yet."
Now? Ohio State must rapidly adjust to life without its most valuable player.
