The Ohio State football program has finally started to deal with injuries this season. After injuries decimated the offensive line last season, the Buckeyes did a good job of avoiding injuries for the first half of this year. No significant contributor missed a game until a couple of weeks ago.
Against Purdue, the Ohio State Buckeyes were without both Josh Padilla and Carnell Tate. The Tate injury was surprising, considering he had warmed up with the team. He has now missed each of the last two games after sitting out the contest against UCLA.
Jeremiah Smith had a limp during pregame warm-ups for that game, but still played the entire first half. Coaches pulled him out for the second half. Ryan Day was asked on Tuesday about his receivers, and he gave no update. On Wednesday night, it was more of the same.
Ryan Day gives no injury update on Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate
While Day did say that both Julian Sayin and CJ Donaldson went through a full practice on Wednesday night, he sidestepped giving any information on his two star receivers. The media was not allowed to see the receivers work out during practice, as well.
It's not surprising that Day didn't give an update. He has a history of not giving any injury updates on key players, and he's not about to change that now. That's especially true with the biggest opponent on the schedule coming up next week. Day doesn't want to give any opponents advanced notice of his players' availability.
The Buckeyes would likely be able to beat the Scarlet Knights without either player. Still, Tate could be playing his final game at home on Saturday. He's likely going to be a first-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. One would think he'd want to play that final time in the Shoe.
Whatever the availability for these two players is on Saturday, it's imperative that they both are ready to go against Michigan. They will need all hands on deck for that game after what's happened in the last four years.