After a week of frolicking in the sun and sand on spring break, the Ohio State football team was back at practice Monday morning. Urban Meyer addressed the Columbus media, providing updates on injuries, the quarterback situation and who's making the push to start this fall. Here's what he had to say:
- "Wasn't a great day, but it's spring practice," Meyer said.
- Meyer said the offensive line is "decimated" because of how many reps the starters got this past season.
- Meyer said there are multiple guys on the offensive line in the "2,000-rep club" led by Taylor Decker. Not only does that include game reps, but it also means competitive reps in practice. He does believe, however, that Ohio State is on the "cutting edge" of keeping track of the wear and tear on the athletes' bodies in the forefront.
- Other members of the 2,000-rep club: Pat Elflein, Tyvis Powell, Joshua Perry, Joey Bosa and Nick Vannett is close.
- On the game in general as a response to former Wisconsin linebacker Chris Borland retiring from the NFL after just his rookie season, Meyer said when he goes and watches his son practice in high school he watches his coaches closely: "As a parent, I just want to make sure he's being well-taught."
- Meyer said he "can't imagine" Ohio State doing more to keep that in the forefront of things to take care of its players.
- Meyer said he plans to keep Ed Warinner down on the field during games, even though he's been promoted to Offensive Coordinator: "His value ... the whole offense goes to him before they take the field the last three years."
- On hiring high school coaches to a college staff, Meyer said the biggest thing to determine their impact is how good of a coach they are.
- Meyer said Raekwon McMillan didn't have "his best day" Monday's in practice: "He's got some big shoes to fill ... he's replacing a middle linebacker (Curtis Grant) who was actually a coach on the field for us."
- Meyer said "everything's fine" when it comes to Braxton Miller's health, but they might pull him back from a few drills just to be cautious.
- Other injuries: Dontre Wilson is still out, but the pins in his broken foot have been removed. J.T. Barrett is progressing quicker than he though after surgery on his broken ankle.
- Meyer said he thinks college football is safer now than it's ever been, which helps its popularity balloon with each passing year.
- Meyer said he is "sure there is" some correlation with spring break being last week to such a rough practice today.
- On the NCAA National Champion Ohio State wrestling team, Meyer said he's "an over the top fan now." Said he has a lot of respect for the sport after watching it more closely: "Logan Stieber, wow."
- Meyer said "there's a little discomfort right now" with the team, but that's OK: "It's a learning opportunity ... that wasn't what we're supposed to be. There will be a lot of pressure for Thursday's practice."
- Meyer said he takes notice of Michigan doing something like hiring a high school football coach from the state of Ohio: "I don't blame them. Do we monitor it? We monitor everything, sure."
- Meyer said overall, the hire of Chris Ash and Larry Johnson made an impact last year: "When you start talking about Ohio State, there was a decade of brilliance on defense and that was lost for a little bit." He said the last three games of last season was "as good a defense as he's seen" since he's been in Columbus.
- Meyer said he and the program are monitoring the grind of practices and hydration "more than ever before." He said it's been key to keeping the starters on both sides of the ball as healthy as possible in recent years.
- On the quarterback situation, Meyer said "it's all positive. If you watch the three of them they're always talking." He said he sees it every day, but the only thing that's starting to "eat away" at him a little bit is how he doesn't have more opportunities to get them all on the field, such as there would be if they were all wide receivers for a example. He feels that way because "they're all great people" who are invested in the program.
