Ohio State's Ryan Day Says Quarterback C.J. Stroud Will Start At Rutgers If Fully Healthy

Stroud returned to practice on Sunday after having the week off to rest a shoulder injury.

Author:
Andrew Lind
Sep 28, 2021 2:33 PM EDT

After having the last week off to rest a lingering right shoulder injury, Ohio State redshirt freshman quarterback C.J. Stroud returned to practice on Sunday afternoon.

Whether or not he’ll be the starting quarterback for this Saturday’s game at Rutgers (3:30 p.m. on BTN) remains to be seen, however.

“We’ll see how today goes,” head coach Ryan Day said during his weekly press conference on Tuesday afternoon. “The week off helped him and it sounds like he’s going in the right direction.”

Kyle McCord played well in Stroud’s absence, completing 13-of-18 passes for 319 yards and two touchdowns on his way to being name the Big Ten’s freshman of the week. He also threw an interception and showed he still has some things to work in his first career start.

“He was inconsistent with some of his reads,” Day said. “I thought that early on, he was a little nervous. He did make some nice throws and I thought there were some really good plays in there. But there was also some that he kind of got away with

“We just have to do a great job of recognizing what the press-snap movement keys are, the post-snap movement keys are and just trust our eyes. When you’re starting for the first time, there’s a lot going on, and I think the next time he’s in that moment, he’ll be a little more settled.”

Day didn’t elaborate on the severity of Stroud’s shoulder injury, but noted he would once again be the Buckeyes' starter once he's full healthy.

“I’m optimistic that coming off of Sunday’s practice and from the feedback I’ve got from the medical staff, the trainers and from C.J. that we’re ready to move forward this week,” Day said.

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