Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett has been cleared to play according to head coach Urban Meyer, but that doesn’t mean he is going to play.
On Saturday against Michigan, Barrett re-aggravated a knee injury that he has silently been dealing with all season, knocking him out of the game completely. On Sunday, he had an arthroscopic procedure to repair a meniscus situation, and was back full-go in practice on Thursday.
On his radio show Thursday, Meyer said that Barrett had been cleared and would play on Saturday. During his press conference on Friday in Indianapolis, however, he said that a decision on Barrett’s role would be made on Saturday.
“Those are all decisions I’m going to make tomorrow,” he said. “We’re going to have a walk-through here in a little bit. Still having conversations with Coach Day and Coach Wilson about it.”
The concerns are many. First, there is the fact that Barrett’s incision needs to be healed in a manner that will allow him to play. Second, the swelling needs to be managed constantly. Third, there may be a significant amount of pain that Barrett will have to deal with.
As to the pain, however, don’t expect that to keep Barrett on the sideline.
“I would say that’s not normal. 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.
“And I never — just don’t put anything past J.T. He said, ‘Coach, I’ll be fine.’ Okay. And then we went about our business and watched him rehab. Every time I walked by the training room when I got in at 6.00 a.m., he’s there. And when I go home at 6:00 at night he’s there.”
Barrett is doing everything he can to be able to play on Saturday. And even if he does get on the field, he is still going to have to show that he can do what is necessary to move the ball.
“That’s something we’re going to watch during the course of the game. And some game-time decisions will be made,” Meyer said. “I don’t want to get into too much detail because it’s J.T.’s business, but so much of it has to do with how he does during the course of the week. And the trainers and doctors are very involved. And it’s not finished. He’s still 24 hours out. So I’ve had a player do it before, that was scoped earlier in the week and played. And then I’ve had others that can’t. And the body has to react a certain way. And his has been very positive.”
While Barrett is working to get ready, backup quarterback Dwayne Haskins has been doing the same. Getting the majority of the reps this week, Haskins is getting more work than he ever has before.
Meyer admitted that there could be a scenario where both quarterbacks play, and also said the play calling would have to change a little bit depending upon who is in the game.
“Yeah, we’ve had a lot of conversations about it. Conceptually it doesn’t change at all,” he said. “Frequency of play calls is something that will be taken into consideration. Because they’re different. Not tremendously different skill sets, but different skill sets.”