After an injury-plagued first half of the season, Ohio State is expected to be closer to full strength when it begins its second half of the season against Iowa on Saturday.
“We're gonna get some guys back, which is great,” Day said Thursday on his radio show. “There will always be things that come up, and I think that our depth’s gotten stronger because of that, but always good to heal up and get everybody back on the field.”
Specifically, Day said he expects running backs Miyan Williams and TreVeyon Henderson to both be full-go against Iowa after Williams missed the Michigan State game with an injury and Henderson also exited that game early while dealing with a nagging foot injury.
“It's great to have both of those guys back,” Day said during his Zoom call with reporters Thursday. “I think that the bye week really helped both of them. And looking to have a full-strength running back corps.”
Day also said defensive tackle Mike Hall is back to full strength after dealing with a nagging injury in the first half of the season that prompted the Buckeyes to limit him to only seven snaps against Michigan State.
“He had a little nagging thing going on, so we were smart about how we did that,” Day said. “He's back at full strength, so that’s good.”
As for wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Day kept his answer short when asked if he felt better about Smith-Njigba’s chances of playing this week than he had before Ohio State’s last three games, all of which Smith-Njigba missed due to a hamstring injury he initially suffered against Notre Dame and aggravated against Toledo.
“I can answer that, and the answer is yes,” Day said.
While no one from Ohio State has said outright that Smith-Njigba will play against Iowa, Smith-Njigba has been practicing with the Buckeyes this week and fellow wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. indicated Wednesday he expects Smith-Njigba to be ready to play.
“He's been practicing. I’m not gonna tell you too much about what he’s doing,” Harrison said while meeting with reporters. “He’s gonna be ready.”
One Buckeye who will not play against Iowa, however, is Kourt Williams. The redshirt sophomore safety, who played only sparingly on defense in the first half of the season but has been a regular on special teams, was seen wearing a sling on his arm after Wednesday’s practice and is out indefinitely with what Day described Thursday as “a long-term injury.”
“Not sure exactly when he'll be back,” Day said.
Ohio State will release its full status report of unavailable players at 9 a.m. Saturday, three hours before kickoff of the Buckeyes’ game against the Hawkeyes.
