Tyleik Williams injury update: Ryan Day shares latest on Ohio State DT

Ohio State senior defensive tackle Tyleik Williams will return to action for a Week 12 game against Northwestern at Wrigley Field, head coach Ryan Day confirmed Tuesday.

“Tyleik will be ready to go,” Day said, when asked about the status of standout 3-technique defensive lineman who missed this past weekend’s game against Purdue.

Williams left the previous week’s game at Penn State with an ankle issue. He appeared to take an awkward fall backward after being blocked on a 2nd-and-6 run from Nittany Lions running back Kaytron Allen that Buckeyes “nickel” cornerback Jordan Hancock quickly snuffed out.

The 6-foot-3, 237-pound Williams had to be helped off the field by Ohio State medical staff. He didn’t return to the game, but his defensive line stepped up in his absence, notably coming up with stop after stop on a goal line stand just minutes later in a 20-13 victory.

Day had positive news about Williams when he met with the media postgame at Penn State.

“He was fine,” Day told reporters after wrapping up his presser. “I just grabbed him outside. He said he was fine.”

Three days later, though, Day described Williams’ status as “day-to-day.” Although Williams was officially “available” for what turned out to be a 45-0 win over Purdue, he didn’t play. Instead, true freshman Eddrick Houston started in his place.

“Tyleik was available, could have played, but we felt like we were going to hold him unless we really needed him,” Day said following the shutout. “We plan on getting him back for next week, full-go, but it was good to see some other guys step up and have to get in there and play.”

The Manassas, Virginia, native also missed two games earlier this season with an undisclosed injury: a Week 4 matchup versus Marshall and a Week 5 game at Michigan State — that said, he was available in an emergency role against the Spartans.

Williams has 256 defensive snaps under his belt this season, per Pro Football Focus, which also has him down for eight pressures and 11 run defense tackles, the latter being good for eighth on the team, according to PFF. Williams has 21 total tackles on the year, including 2.5 sacks.

Williams is one of the 11 draft-eligible and starter-level players who put his NFL dreams on pause and returned to Ohio State for the 2024 season.

In 2023, Williams mounted 54 total tackles — he combined for 37 his first two years at Ohio State — not to mention his 10 tackles for loss, three sacks and five passes defended, plus a fumble recovery for a touchdown he recorded against Western Kentucky. Maybe most importantly, Williams upped his snap count significantly, playing 645 defensive snaps last season, according to PFF. He had notched 251 and 183 defensive snaps in 2022 and 2021, respectively.

Williams is once again making a significant impact on the Buckeyes’ interior in 2024. He’ll get back to doing so Saturday versus Northwestern at Wrigley.