It's unclear if Smith-Njigba will be on a "pitch count" after being limited to 22 snaps in the win over Iowa.
Ohio State head coach Ryan Day reiterated on Tuesday that junior wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba did not aggravate his hamstring or suffer another injury in Saturday’s 54-10 win over Iowa and is expected to play this weekend at Penn State.
“That’s the plan,” Day said during his weekly press conference at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.
Smith-Njigba caught just one pass for seven yards in 22 offensive snaps against the Hawkeyes before leaving the game midway through the second quarter after he came up gingerly on a route.
He could be seen on the sideline being tended to by the training staff and did not return to the game, but Day said afterward he was on a “pitch count” that he coincidentally reached on that drive.
“We’ll see,” Day said when asked if he’ll be on a play limit against the Nittany Lions. “As the week goes on, we’ll know more. When you come out of games like that, you’ve got to keep evaluating and see how things go, but we’ll keep figuring stuff out and by the end of the week, we’ll have a better idea.”
Smith-Njigba has played parts of only three games this season after suffering the injury in the season-opening win against Notre Dame. He has just five catches for 43 yards as a result, a far cry from his record-setting sophomore campaign, when he pulled down 95 passes for 1,606 yards and nine scores.
“He’s always been trying to get back out there,” Day said. “He’s a competitor and it’s been hard for him to not be out there more, but we wanted to make sure that we kept that number to right around 20 and make sure that we didn’t put him out there any more.”
Junior Julian Fleming and sophomores Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka have stepped up in Smith-Njigba’s absence, hauling in a combined 61 catches for 1,660 yards and 23 touchdowns this season. Day doesn’t seem too concerned with how his return could impact the unit, though.
“Our guys are very intelligent,” Day said. “They can jump in and out of positions, whether it’s the ‘Z,’ the ‘H,’ the ‘X.’ We can jump in and out of 11, 10, 12 (personnel) and our guys really don’t get affected too much by that, so no, it shouldn’t be a problem.”
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