Will the Buckeyes Have Tuf Borland on the Field Saturday?
Urban Meyer said it back in the spring when it happened, Ohio State middle linebacker Tuf Borland may have suffered an Achilles tendon injury, but the expectations were that he would return sooner rather than later.
“He’s a little bit like J.T. Barrett, you say he’s out for a while, but he’s not going to be out for that long,” Meyer said.
Borland suffered his Achilles injury on a normal play, which he called “just kind of a freak play.” Since then, he has been working tirelessly with OSU’s rehab team and strength coaches in the hopes of having him ready to go against Oregon State.
For most players, there’d be no point in such a lofty goal, but Borland’s capacity for recovery is clearly different than most players.
He was jogging on the very first day of fall camp and has been active throughout, but not necessarily full go.
Only in the last few days has he been working in team drills.
If there is a question as to how long after Borland is cleared will he be
ready, Meyer also said back in Chicago at Big Ten Media Days that once Borland is cleared,
he’ll be ready and prepared enough to be back on the field immediately.
So is Borland ready right now?
“I’m ready to go,” the redshirt sophomore linebacker said on Tuesday.
He repeated it several more times throughout his 10 minutes with the media.
Borland feeling ready is only one part of the equation, however. There is still the matter of the medical staff and the coaches who have to decide whether or not there is too much risk involved in playing him this early.
But then there is also the allure of having him back on the field now because of what he does for the defense and the team as a whole. Keep in mind, he is a team captain as a redshirt sophomore. That’s a pretty exclusive club, which includes the aforementioned and fellow miracle healer, J.T. Barrett.
“He may be back this week. It’s amazing the way he has rehabbed,” defensive coordinator Greg Schiano said on Monday. “The job that our people in the training room, our medical people have handled him, the way Coach Mick [Marotti] has handled him, and more important than any of that is the way that Tuf is such a committed young man to what he’s doing. And he’s made incredible progress.
“As a coach and as a father I kind of am hesitant, because that’s a serious injury, as you know. But you have to trust the medical people and if they say he can go — so we’ll see by the end of the week we’ll figure out what he can and can’t do or what he should or shouldn’t do. But he’s ahead of schedule, well ahead of schedule.”
Entire article:
https://theozone.net/2018/08/will-buckeyes-tuf-borland-field-saturday/