Ohio State’s Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Cameron Brown, Cameron Martinez Unavailable Against Rutgers

The Buckeyes will be without a total of 14 players against the Scarlet Knights, including two starters.

Author:
Andrew Lind
Oct 1, 2022 11:09 AM EDT

Ohio State junior wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, fifth-year senior cornerback Cameron Brown and redshirt sophomore safety Cameron Martinez are among the 14 players unavailable for Saturday’s game against Rutgers, which kicks off at 3:30 p.m. on BTN.

Smith-Njigba suffered a hamstring injury in the season-opening win over Notre Dame and will miss his third game in the last four. He was held out of the win over Arkansas State and returned to the field against Toledo for 23 snaps, but the injury flared up against ahead of the victory over Wisconsin and he was held out.

Brown will miss his second straight game, meanwhile, after heading to the locker room in the first half of the win over the Rockets with an undisclosed injury. Redshirt freshman J.K. Johnson will make his second career start in his place, while freshman Jyaire Brown should also see extended playing time on Saturday.

Sophomore Denzel Burke will return to action after being a late scratch against the Badgers due to a right hand injury, though he’ll likely be wearing a protective covering. That means the Buckeyes will have a bit more depth this weekend, though classmate Jordan Hancock remains sidelined by lower-body injury sustained in the preseason.

New names listed on this week’s status report include Martinez, fifth-year senior defensive end Tyler Friday, fifth-year senior linebacker Palaie Gaoteote, fifth-year senior cornerback Lloyd McFarquhar and redshirt freshman safety Jantzen Dunn.

Sophomore defensive end Mitchell Melton and redshirt freshman running back Evan Pryor are out for the season with knee injuries, while fifth-year senior wide receiver Kamryn Babb, fifth-year senior linebacker Teradja Mitchell, redshirt sophomore tight end Joe Royer and freshman defensive end Omari Abor will also be sidelined again this week.

Ohio State Availability Report Vs. Rutgers

Game-time decision:

• Sophomore wide receiver Emeka Egbuka

Unavailable:

• Freshman defensive end Omari Abor
• Fifth-year senior wide receiver Kamryn Babb
• Fifth-year senior cornerback Cameron Brown
• Redshirt freshman safety Jantzen Dunn
• Fifth-year senior defensive end Tyler Friday
• Fifth-year senior linebacker Palaie Gaoteote
• Sophomore cornerback Jordan Hancock
• Redshirt sophomore safety Cameron Martinez
• Fifth-year senior cornerback Lloyd McFarquhar
• Redshirt sophomore defensive end Mitchell Melton
• Fifth-year senior linebacker Teradja Mitchell
• Redshirt freshman running back Evan Pryor
• Redshirt sophomore tight end Joe Royer
• Junior wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba