Ohio State football player has a soft tissue injury

The Ohio State football team was without two starters for the season opener against Akron. Starting linebacker Cody Simon missed the game and is characterized as day-to-day. Sonny Styles shifted to his spot and C.J. Hicks started in Styles' spot but was sharing snaps with a few other guys.

Guard Donovan Jackson was the other starter who missed the game. Austin Siereveld started in his stead and actually played better than I expected him to. Carson Hinzman rotated with him as well and wasn't nearly as effective as I thought he would be. Jackson is also considered day-to-day.

What makes Jackson's injury more concerning that Simon's injury is the fact that the offensive line performed poorly on Saturday relative to their expectations. He is also the best offensive lineman that the Buckeyes have. The type of injury he has is also cause for concern.

Ohio State football starting guard Donovan Jackson has a hamstring injury

It has been reported that Jackson is suffering from a hamstring injury. If that is the case, that's extremely distressing. Hamstring injuries just tend to linger for weeks on end if not properly cared for. Ohio State can't afford to be without him during some of their harder games.

This injury is also evidence of a troubling trend that we have seen in the last few years. It seems like year after year, the Buckeyes have soft tissue injuries early in the year. It happened with Jackson Smith-Njigba, Emeka Egbuka, and now Jackson. Why does this keep happening?

It's clear that something needs to be adjusted with the strength and conditioning program to keep these kinds of injuries from happening early in the year. It's entirely preventable early in the year. There's no reason guys should be missing the beginning of the year.

Hopefully, Jackson is able to come back soon and will be fully healthy.