When the Ohio State Buckeyes take on the Penn State Nittany Lions on Saturday afternoon in a top-15 matchup, they’ll be doing it without one of their best players as wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba has been ruled out of the game.
According to Austin Ward of Rivals.com, Jaxon Smith-Njigba was listed as “unavailable” on Ohio State’s pregame availability report, keeping Smith-Njigba out of his fifth game so far this season. The star receiver initially suffered a hamstring injury during the first series of the season-opening win over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and hasn’t played consistently since.
Smith-Njigba returned from the injury during last week’s game against the Iowa Hawkeyes, but he appeared to re-aggravate that injury in the game. Ward reports that Smith-Njigba is now out indefinitely and was not on campus at practice this week as he sought outside medical opinions while still trying to return for the Buckeyes this season. However, Ward also notes that his return this season might not be possible, given his latest setback.
It’s a huge update to one of college football’s top players, and the college football world had plenty to say about it on Twitter.
So why did Coach Day say all week that he was just on a Pitch Count & will be ready for Saturday? Everyone could feel that’s not how last week finished for JSN. Ultimately I hope they do what’s best for JSN & his future. Gonna have a long, productive career in the league 🏈
— Coach Pete Whitmer (@_CoachPeteW) October 29, 2022
Why did he play vs toledo.
This was a grade 2 injury and likely lost for year
— Official Ohio State DG (@DylanEveryday) October 29, 2022
No JSN? Aw man. Now Ohio State will likely just barely cover! https://t.co/WvYRKhRDTj pic.twitter.com/m0QPnvQTVd
— Nick Clarkson (@RealSilverTuna_) October 29, 2022
Just feel so bad for this kid. https://t.co/adZOUn3fTI
— Douglas (@DougTweetsALot) October 29, 2022
I would not be surprised if he doesn’t play this year https://t.co/8HT0I7o9bJ
— EricTheGreat (@eric_delaluz) October 29, 2022
I wonder if he returns for another season. His draft stock has to be dropping https://t.co/jNsHyTQj8z
— Fresh Brownies (@Fresh_Brownies) October 29, 2022
Anytime Ryan Day says someone is close to returning add at least 2 weeks to that estimate lmao https://t.co/njB6JmbyTJ
— NC Buckeye (@OHIO_SPORTSFAN_) October 29, 2022
Even without Smith-Njigba, who entered the 2022 season as the top returning receiver in the country, Ohio State still has undoubtedly the top offense in college football. However, it is still an unfortunate update for Smith-Njigba as his final college season is not going according to plan.
[Rivals]