A picture-perfect day greeted Ohio State's football team for its first non-training camp practice of the season at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center on Monday.
Additionally, the program lifted a weeklong media blackout. Head coach Urban Meyer met with reporters in the team room to share his thoughts on the final week of camp plus where his team stands with under two weeks in front of it before the season opener against Bowling Green Sept. 3. Kickoff is scheduled for noon.
Notes:
- Meyer called practice on Monday "a really good day. I just like coaching this team. They're very hungry. Anxious to learn and get better."
- This week is all about getting "game ready" while next week is installing the game plan for Bowling Green.
- Sam Hubbard earned a starting defensive end spot.
- Noah Brown is someone who is "obviously" atop the wide receiver depth chart. He added "I don't know how Parris Campbell doesn't start."
- Dwayne Haskins is pushing Joe Burrow for the backup quarterback spot.
- Torrance Gibson missed "about 10 practices" with a hamstring injury. He returned Monday.
- Michael Jordan continues to lead at left guard. Demetrius Knox, Matt Burrell and others "are on their heels."
- Isaiah Prince leads at right tackle, Mike Weber does at running back, and Jake Hausmann is in the mix to be Marcus Baugh's backup at tight end. A.J. Alexander is dealing with an ankle injury.
- Jashon Cornell missed five or six practices with a groin injury.
- If Dante Booker "has another good day" he will be named the starter at outside linebacker. Same goes for Chris Worley.
- Ohio State intends to play Denzel Ward, Marshon Lattimore and Damon Arnette at corner opposite of Gareon Conley.
- Damon Webb and Malik Hooker are "running with the ones" on defense right now.
- Tracy Sprinkle and Mike Hill continue to lead at defensive tackle but are being pushed by Dre'Mont Jones and DaVon Hamilton.
- On quarterback shifting to wide receivers, Meyer never sat down with a player about pushing him to change the position. The player comes to him: "We've never had to sit a guy down and say I think you should move. Been lucky."
- Meyer doesn't feel any sort of resistance from his young team to take coaching and learning: "I don't feel that at all."
- Jordan Fuller, Josh Alabi and Keandre Jones lost their black stripes Monday.
- Meyer said losing black stripes doesn't always have a lot to do with playing time. A player having one on for more than a year "is not ideal."
- Curtis Samuel is Ohio State's No. 1 playmaker on offense right now.
- On defensive line coach Larry Johnson, Meyer noted how he is not someone who says one thing and does another: "Very valuable. Very talented coach. Very talented speaker."
- Meyer stressed everything said to players is calculated: "I feel fortunate to have so many great coaches around me to do that."
- Every player must be appointed "game ready" before they can hit the field on a Saturday. Meyer goes through each player with assistants during meetings: "It's my job to press with the coaches is this player game ready? No? Why?"
- The second-string offensive line "is not good enough" right now.
- Ohio State wants to "be much more balanced" this year on offense. Said it was difficult last year with Ezekiel Elliott at tailback.
- "I heard a big boom out there on the field today. We like booms around here."
