Gundy: Martin will be back when pain subsides; Brown got scoped and out a while
Sep. 28—Mike Gundy addressed the mounting injuries for his Oklahoma State football team during Monday's weekly press conference.
Confirmation came from Gundy that receiver Braydon Johnson — who was still listed on the depth chart released by OSU up until this week — is out for the remainder of the season. The redshirt senior from Arlington, Texas, did play in the season opener against Missouri State in which he made one catch for 13 yards, but has not appeared in a game since.
Receivers did get a bit of a boost over the weekend, though.
True freshman Jaden Bray didn't travel with the team to Boise State, but did return to the field against Kansas State — though he didn't have any targets. He was joined in a return by Tay Martin, who led the team with 100 yards on nine catches, and Blaine Green — who made his college debut with two catches for 47 yards.
"We all know that by getting (Martin) and (Bray) back that helps us, because now they (defenses) have to defend more pass instead of just flushing the run," Gundy said. "We need to keep them healthy. I'm fairly certain we got out of that game, offensively, with not having any issues, so we should have all those guys up and running."
There was no update, however, on Bryson Green, who suffered a hand injury at Boise State.
Gundy did confirm Monday that tailback LD Brown had also suffered an injury in OSU's first road game of the season.
Brown had four carries for two yards and one catch for seven yards at Boise State, but did not suit up in the conference opener — leading to Dominic Richardson becoming the backup for Jaylen Warren.
"We had him scoped, so we'll see," Gundy said. "We'll check on him in two or three weeks, just kind of see where he's at."
On the defensive side, the Cowboy coach said he was accurate in his Saturday night assessment of defensive end Brock Martin.
The redshirt senior from Oologah had sustained an injury to his left shoulder while dragging down the K-State quarterback on a play in the third quarter. He had emerged from the tunnel in the fourth quarter to watch the final minutes of the game with his left arm in a sling.
"Brock's injury, which is unbelievably painful, is not an injury that ends his season," Gundy said Monday. "We don't think that he had any internal damage in that area. So it's a pain management situation now."
Fortunately for Oklahoma State, Martin also has a wrestler's mentality as a three-time state champion in Oklahoma.
And as Gundy knows, wrestlers are just built different.
"The wrestling coach here (John Smith) wrestled in the Olympics with a torn ACL. They just do it," Gundy said. "So we're all different, right? Everybody has a pain tolerance and everybody has a mental makeup. Brock's is, 'I forget the pain. You tell me I'm OK, I'm gonna go play.' That's who he is."
With Martin out for a few weeks — and the season-ending injury to Trace Ford before the season even started — the depth chart released Monday put true freshman Collin Oliver, who has played in each game this season, as the projected starter for the Cowboy defense heading into Saturday's game against a Baylor offense that ranks 10th in the country averaging 42.8 points per game.
