COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State head coach Ryan Day remembers going through something similar to CJ Stroud when he was once a quarterback.

Day recalls an injury in his shoulder that took a week to heal. He remembers the back-and-forth he had to face: can you rest it or can you work through it. What makes the most sense?

After working through it over the past through weeks, Day expects Stroud to rest his shoulder, announcing Thursday that he plans to play the redshirt quarterback only in “emergency” situations against Akron Saturday, handing the reigns of the offense to either redshirt freshman Jack Miller III or freshman Kyle McCord.

Freshman Quinn Ewers will be unavailable to play Saturday night.

“We want him to have some rest going into this week and try to allow him the opportunity to get stronger,” Day said. “We’re taking it day-by-day. But I think the mindset right now is to use him in an emergency role only on Saturday. But we’ll see how he’s feeling today.”

Stroud was shut down from throwing during Tuesday and Wednesday’s practices, not throwing Sunday immediately after the game either. Instead, McCord and Miller have each split reps with the ones.

Day is hoping to make a decision on what the offensive game plan is for Saturday, tomorrow after reflecting on what’s done on the practice field Thursday afternoon.

To Day, rest is a good thing, not only for his redshirt freshman starter, but for those who have taken reps with the second-team.

The head coach said that coming into 2021, he never thought that Ohio State was going to rely on a one-quarterback offense. Instead, they would need the whole room.

“We have young quarterbacks and that’s going to be how it works,” Day said. “At some point you have to put it out there and let them play and learn from their mistakes. We trust what we see in practice. It’s all about their preparation. They are going against really good players every day in practice. It’s time to let some other guys go in and get some action, depending on how CJ is feeling.”

But this seems more than just playing a backup for an injured quarterback.

Day said he plans to use this time as an evaluation tool.

“This is a long season. You don’t know what’s coming next, and that’s something I talked with our guys about all the time,” the head coach said. “All I knew for sure was that in the first week was that we would have a starter named for Minnesota and the season is going to go from there.”

Miller played in one game for Ohio State in 2020, carrying the ball twice for 23 yards and a touchdown. McCord has never seen the field for the Buckeyes. Neither has thrown a collegiate pass.

Day said that heading into Friday, he plans to pick one quarterback to get the majority of the reps and go from there, choosing the one who he thinks will give Ohio State the best opportunity to beat Akron,.

Day knows Stroud wants to be out there. He knows it will be hard for him o watch Miller and McCord take the snaps behind center.

But Day reiterated that the Buckeyes offense has to be smart and can’t be reckless.

It looks like a decision has been made.

“(Stroud’s) feedback is important. If he’s ready to roll, then let’s go,” Day said. “But I think rest is probably going to be the best option heading into the weekend.”