INDIANAPOLIS – The reinforcements are coming.
A slew of players who sat out at least a portion, if not all 15 practices, of spring camp with injuries will be back in time for Ohio State beginning preseason camp on Aug. 3, head coach Ryan Day said during his hour-long session on Friday afternoon. Among those who previously dealt with injury bouts but will be good to go when camp opens are cornerbacks Cameron Brown and Sevyn Banks, linebacker Dallas Gant, safety Kourt Williams and defensive tackle Haskell Garrett.
The only player Day mentioned will not be good to go when practices begin is Kamryn Babb, the fourth-year wide receiver who has suffered three season-ending injuries dating back to high school and is now injured again. He didn’t give any specifics about why Babb will be unavailable. He also confirmed that, after they each graduated, Jaylen Harris retired because of medical reasons and Ellijah Gardiner moved on from football.
Though Ohio State’s wide receiver position is now thinner than Brian Hartline and Day would prefer with only seven healthy players, the five now-healthy players provide a significant boost to a defense in need of a boost.
Brown has been out ever since suffering a torn Achilles in the fourth quarter of the Buckeyes’ early November win at Penn State. He missed all contact drills in the spring.
Banks was healthy at the beginning of spring but suffered an injury that sidelined him for the final two weeks of spring practices. He used one crutch to move around while watching April’s spring game on the sideline.
They’re the two projected starters at cornerback.
Gant sat out all of spring with a foot injury. He wore a medical boot to walk around.
Garrett also was out for spring camp. He was pictured wearing a medical boot and using a medical scooter.
Williams missed the entirety of his freshman season at Ohio State because of a torn ACL suffered in October. Day says he’ll play safety this fall.
Now, all five of them are back, and they’ll each play significant roles in attempting to bring the Buckeye defense back to a championship level in 2021.
