Marvin Harrison Jr.'s Ankle 'Good Enough' To Play Saturday vs. Maryland
Ohio State star wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. gave a positive update on his ankle Wednesday.
The bye week clearly was a blessing for the Buckeyes, as Harrison has had almost two weeks to recover. He said his ankle was “good enough” to play Saturday.
“I would say the next day, [I] couldn’t really move too much but definitely [had] a lot of adrenaline,” Harrison said. “I think, just, the moment of the game allowed me to finish.”
Harrison said he was in “a lot of pain” late in the 2nd quarter against Notre Dame on Sept. 23 but was happy he helped with the final block for running back TreVeon Henderson's breakout 61-yard touchdown. He added that this injury was worse than last year’s ankle sprain suffered against Arkansas State on Sept 10, 2022.
Harrison said after he was helped off the field, he had a discussion with the trainers to tape his ankle up and get back to his team.
“I definitely didn’t know how severe the injury was. I knew it was kind of, alright, same ankle all over again, just like last year,” Harrison said. “I knew if I wanted to finish this game I had to play on it.”
Harrison said he knew had to be smart in practice all week to not aggravate his injury against a top-50 defense and top-15 redzone defense in Maryland this weekend.
“I would say it’s worse than the [injury] last year, but I’m good enough to play,” Harrison said.
Harrison went on to talk about the leadership and confidence junior quarterback Kyle McCord has shown this season.
“One thing that’s really cool about Kyle is he’s the same guy all the time, no matter where he’s at.… Going into that last game-winning drive, no one had more confidence in themselves than him,” Harrison said. “That’s just the kind of guy he is.”
Harrison, who played high school football with McCord at St. Joseph’s Preparatory School in Philadelphia, added that his quarterback likes to have fun with the team and has a great personality — nothing new to him.
“[That moment] was special. Just, had to wait two years… and for him to perform the way he did on that last drive on that big of a stage — I’m super proud of him because I know all that he’s been through from high school to that moment,” Harrison said.
Harrison, McCord and the Buckeyes kick off against Maryland Saturday at noon.
