Urban Meyer will make decision Saturday about how much J.T. Barrett plays
Urban Meyer isn’t sure just how much quarterback J.T. Barrett will be able to play in Saturday’s Big Ten Championship Game vs. Wisconsin.
That doubt is understandable. Barrett had surgery to fix a meniscus tear in his right knee on Sunday. Also known as six days before Saturday’s game. And he’s been cleared to play. Elite athletes are special people.
But despite being cleared to play, Meyer isn’t sure about Barrett’s effectiveness or playing time. This is what he had to say Friday when asked about that.
“Those are all decisions I’m going to make tomorrow,” Meyer said. “I want to see where — we’re going to have a walk-through here in a little bit. Still having conversations with [quarterbacks coach Ryan Day] and [offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson] about it.”
Barrett left last week’s game vs. Michigan in the third quarter when his knee buckled while scrambling. The knee first flared up before the game when he was hit by a camera on the sidelines. Meyer was livid after the game, though the school said this week it’s not attempting an all-out investigation to find who the camera person is.
A day after Ohio State beat Michigan, Barrett was having surgery.
“It takes a rare individual to be able to — because there is a pain threshold,” Meyer said. “There is also, when you start talking about 15 hours a day of treatment, which is what he did, I can’t say that’s normal. Because it’s not.”
“I’ve had players have similar type things happen, they’re out two, three weeks. But he’s not normal.”
The QB was replaced by redshirt freshman Dwayne Haskins vs. the Wolverines. Meyer said Friday that a game against Illinois earlier in November when Ohio State blew out the Illini was a spark for Haskins’ development.
“I think the Illinois game, if you look back — obviously the weather was terrible — but after the fumble, he came back and played with energy, emotion, which we expect out of our quarterback, and it carried over and practiced well the following week,” Meyer said.
“And when his number was called, he played high-level football for us. So a lot of confidence in him right now amongst our players and the staff.”
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of Dr. Saturday and From the Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
