Junior Ohio State wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba (11) lines up across from his Notre Dame counter part during the first half of No. 2 Ohio States 21-10 win over No. 5 Notre Dame on Sept. 3. Credit: Zachary Rilley | Photo Editor
Third-year wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba will be evaluated throughout this week regarding his leg injury before No. 3 Ohio State hosts Arkansas State Saturday.
Smith-Njigba suffered an injury in the first quarter against then-No. 5 Notre Dame that limited him to two catches and held him out of the second half. Head coach Ryan Day said the Buckeyes medical staff will “get a better feel” for Smith-Njigba’s status during evaluations and practice leading up to playing the Red Wolves.
“I leave it up to the doctors and the medical professionals,” Day said. “We will not bring him back if there’s any risk in him getting hurt further for the future, so we’ll make sure he’s 100 percent before we put him back in the game.”
Smith-Njigba’s exact injury is unclear, however third-year quarterback C.J. Stroud said Tuesday that “a hamstring is something you don’t want to play with,” and he recalled dealing with a similar ailment during his first season in 2020.
Other Buckeyes picked up their production in Smith-Njigba’s absence, though. Second-year wide receiver Emeka Egbuka caught a game high nine receptions for 90 yards and a touchdown, and six other Buckeyes caught a pass, including graduate Xavier Booker, whose go-ahead score doubled as the first catch of his career.
Despite the deep receiver room, the loss of Smith-Njigba still looms over the Buckeyes.
“It just affects your whole offense,” Stroud said. “I mean, he’s the best player on our team if you ask me.”
Not only does Smith-Njigba provide a more than capable receiving option, but he can also return punts, evident in his eight returns last season. Because of his dynamic skill set, Day said Smith-Njigba is an “impact player” for Ohio State.
“As you saw last year, he can turn a five-yard completion into whatever. He’s just so explosive,” Day said. “When you have a playmaker like that on the perimeter, it just has such an impact on the entire game schematically across the board. That’s just the impact he makes.”
Day said he’ll continue conversing with Ohio State trainers to get their feedback on Smith-Njigba’s health. If feedback is “somewhere in between” for a veteran player, he said he’ll turn to them based on trust.
Ohio State has turned its focus to Arkansas State, an opponent which the Buckeyes haven’t played in their storied history. Smith-Njigba’s status for the game Saturday remains unclear, but Stroud said the receiver’s impact is plenty apparent.
“You never want to see your brother go down,” Stroud said. “You see all the work he puts in in the offseason and just grinding so hard. It kind of sucks for him to not bear the fruit of his labor but it is what it is.”
