Marvin Harrison Jr.’s ankle isn’t fully healthy, but it won’t keep him from playing against Maryland on Saturday.
Playing through an ankle sprain is nothing new for Harrison, who suffered an ankle sprain in the second game of the 2022 season against Arkansas State, yet did not miss any time. He says the injury he suffered two weeks ago against Notre Dame is more significant than the one he suffered last season, but not severe enough that it will keep him off the field.
“I would say it's worse than the one last year, but I'm good enough to play,” Harrison said Wednesday.
Harrison suffered the injury on Ohio State’s first offensive play of the third quarter against Notre Dame when Fighting Irish safety Xavier Watts ran into his ankle while attempting to tackle TreVeyon Henderson on a 61-yard touchdown run by the Ohio State running back. Harrison said he knew immediately that he had injured his right ankle – the same one he injured last year – but he was determined to get back on the field and finish out the game.
“I definitely didn't know how severe the injury was. I knew it was kind of the same ankle all over again, just like last year, so I kind of knew, ‘Alright, I’m going to finish this game. I know how to play on it, because I had to play on it last year,’” Harrison said.
The play tonight on which Marvin Harrison Jr. hurt his ankle: pic.twitter.com/tIfnJDkx88
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 24, 2023
Although he is a projected top-five pick in the 2024 NFL draft, Harrison said he gave no thought to staying out of the game to preserve his health, knowing the Buckeyes were in a tight battle with the Fighting Irish.
“That didn’t even cross my mind one time. I was just trying to win the game. It was a close game at the time,” Harrison said. “That never crossed my mind at all. Just go out there and help my team win, that's all I was thinking about.”
Harrison did have to convince Ohio State’s athletic trainers that he was healthy enough to continue playing, but he was able to do so with some sprints on the sideline after they taped his injured ankle up. He said he realized how significant the injury was when he woke up the next day, but he was fueled by adrenaline to finish out the game.
“The next day, I couldn't really move too much,” Harrison said. “But definitely a lot of adrenaline. I think just the moment of the game allowed me to finish.”
“I would say it's worse than the one last year, but I'm good enough to play.”– Marvin Harrison Jr. on his ankle injury
Harrison made a 6-yard catch on his very first play back into the game, and he also made a diving 19-yard grab on the game-winning drive in Ohio State’s eventual 17-14 win. He said he wasn’t thinking about his ankle while he was on the field even though he couldn’t bend his ankle the way he normally would because of how heavily taped it was.
“I’m just trying to go out there and win the game,” Harrison said. “Do my part, do the best I can and trust myself in the moment. But I was just trying to win the game.”
Even though he was injured on the play, Harrison was glad that he was able to make a key block to spring Henderson’s touchdown run.
“The coaches kind of challenged us as receivers to be able to make those big blocks on the outside, to spring long touchdown runs, and Trey got through there, made some people miss and broke the tackle,” Harrison said. “So I was just proud of myself for kind of making that block and having the presence not only in the pass game, but in the run game as well.”
While he is trying to prepare the best he can for Maryland, whose secondary he felt was the best he faced last season, Harrison said he is being cautious about how hard he goes in practice this week because he wants to be as healthy as possible for Saturday’s game.
“You want to prepare, but you want to be smart throughout the week so you can go into Saturday as healthy as you possibly can be,” Harrison said. “So maybe not taking a rep here or a deep ball where you think you might not get it. So just trying to be smart throughout the whole week so you can be healthy for Saturdays.”
