Ryan Day on Ohio State missing Jaxon Smith-Njigba: 'It was tough this year not having him'

The Ohio State Buckeyes basically played without Jaxon Smith-Njigba all season long. Now that the team switched its focus to the College Football Playoff against No. 1 Georgia, head coach Ryan Day addressed what it was like to play without the team’s most dynamic receiver this fall due to injury.

“Yeah, it was frustrating for him mostly,” Day said. “I mean, nobody was more frustrated than Jaxon. Nobody wanted to play more than Jaxon. I know that. It was tough this year not having him. We had a lot of the offense kind of designed around him and then had to adapt as time went on and hoped we’d get him back but it just never quite got to where he was comfortable playing and then certainly gotten reevaluated there the last month and just determined that he wasn’t gonna make sense for him to go back on the field. Just too much risk there and it was hard for him.” 

Smith-Njigba played just three games this year, finishing with five catches for 43 yards. 

“I know it was really hard for Jaxon this year to sit around and watch his teammates play and his body not allow him to play,” Day said. “And, you know, I think in a day and age where you’re not gonna go out there and give a lot of detail about what the injury is, and so many people questioning and asking for him, that wasn’t easy for him either. We knew that he wasn’t gonna be able to play this next month. It was ruled out by the doctors and so they made the decision and just felt like it was time to put it to bed, so that he can get a little peace because it was hard for him this season.”

The Buckeyes star broke out last season, finishing with 95 catches for 1,606 yards, nine touchdowns and 16.9 yards per catch. His historic Rose Bowl performance led the Buckeyes to a win over Utah.

But looking ahead, he won’t be out there with his teammates as he prepares for the NFL Draft.

“You just kind of move on from that and and you plan accordingly, which was what we’ve done all season,” Day said. “So you know, we were kind of moving forward without him and if we didn’t it was going to be a bonus at some point during the season. But yeah, it definitely hurt not having him around for sure.”

Ohio State takes on Georgia in the Peach Bowl in the College Football Playoff semifinals Dec. 31.