“He’ll miss a couple practices here and get right back at it, so it’s more of a setback than anything else,” Day said.
Brown entered the spring competing with Kyle McCord to be the next starting quarterback for the Buckeyes.
McCord, the primary backup last season, may have had a leg up on the competition thanks to experience, but Brown generated some buzz late last year and during the winter with his ability to make plays with his legs.
Now Brown will have to wait until August to go for Stroud’s old job again, but Day said he should be able to get in most of the work he would have otherwise this summer.
The coach also made it sound like the QB competition would have worn into the preseason anyway.
“I think they’ve both done really good things,” Day said. “I think there’s things they both will have to improve on. I think if they were sitting right here they’d tell you the same thing.
“There’s no games or no agenda here. There’s two guys competing, and the one day, the one guy has the upper hand and the next day, the other guy might have the upper hand. Those reps have been split up evenly. You guys have seen it in practice. We’ve been really making sure we do that. So they know that there’s things they need to work on. There’s things that they’ve done well.”
Before spring practice began, Day expressed a preference to have someone step up and claim the job this month.
With its end a few days away, the coach noted the team will have twice as many practices in the preseason as it does in the spring.
“I guess this is Practice 13, right? That’s still not a ton of practices. You get double that in the preseason, so we’ll keep building, keep growing.
“I think after the spring, we’ll take a look at the numbers, who graded out a champion, completion percentage, those types of things that’ll help us.”
Those numbers will include the spring game, which will feature McCord along with Oregon State transfer Tristan Gebbia and walk-ons Chad Ray and Mason Maggs.
Gebbia played 12 college games in four years in Corvallis, but he was brought in mostly as an extra arm rather than a third competitor for the starting job.
He has eyes on coaching when his playing career is done, and he is treating his time at Ohio State as a warmup for that.
“I’ve been impressed with his approach,” Day said. “You can tell that he’s played in games. The decisions are quick, the ball comes out quick. And he’s got a mature approach to it.
“But for Kyle and Tristan, great opportunity on Saturday to put it on the field because, ultimately, you can say that it’s the same and it’s not. It’s just not the same being here, practicing in front of a small group as opposed to being in the stadium.”
SATURDAY’S GAME
Ohio State Spring Game, Noon, BTN
About the Author
