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Cameron Brown 'itching' to get back this week for Buckeyes

Ohio State cornerback Cameron Brown is aiming to return this week. (Birm/DTE)
Ohio State cornerback Cameron Brown is aiming to return this week. (Birm/DTE) (Birm/DTE)

COLUMBUS -- Cameron Brown is familiar with the routine.

That doesn't make it any easier for the Ohio State cornerback to deal with, especially when a lingering setback robs him of multiple games.

The senior returned for another year with the Buckeyes hoping he could finally put his checkered history with injuries in the past. But after a breakout start in the secondary for the first few weeks, Brown has been sidelined with what has been described by Dotting The Eyes sources as concussion-like symptoms over the last two games.

There is an end in sight. But the frustration over the opportunities that slipped away from Brown is still there as the Buckeyes get back on the practice field to prepare for Michigan State on Saturday.

"He's been itching to get back out there," Ohio State coach Ryan Day said on Tuesday at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. "He's been stressing to get back out there. I've felt an urgency about him for the last week that he's dying to get back on the field. We're obviously going to make sure that he's where he needs to be, and we're going to trust the doctors and all the medical people.

"But he's doing whatever he can to get back on the field."

The expectation for the Buckeyes is that will happen by the weekend, which would be a significant boost for a secondary that has been shorthanded at cornerback all season.

Brown has clearly been the top performer for that unit when at full speed, and his absence combined with a hamstring issue that has kept Jordan Hancock on the bench all season and a hand surgery that kept Denzel Burke out for a game has stretched Ohio State thin.

With an off date looming after the Big Ten road debut on Saturday, the Buckeyes should be nearing full strength heading into the second half of the schedule. But they might get closer as early as this weekend with Brown back in the fold.

"I don't think anybody is more frustrated than he is," Day said. "Hopefully this is a great week of work and we get him back on Saturday."

The evaluations resume on Tuesday. And it's a process that Cameron Brown unfortunately knows all too well.

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