COLUMBUS, Ohio –– Ohio State could be without the services of senior defensive end Tyler Friday for quite some time.

Friday was absent from the Buckeyes' first fall camp practice session Wednesday, and head coach Ryan Day confirmed afterwards that the New Jersey native will be sidelined for all of preseason camp and then some due to an undisclosed injury.

"Tyler Friday won't be available. I won't get into his injury just yet, I haven't talked to him about that, about making it public," Day said. "But he won't be available for camp, and really for most of the season."

Friday, a 6-foot-3, 260-pound veteran of Larry Johnson's defensive line, has started five games in 26 appearances for the Buckeyes during his collegiate career.

In 2020, Friday recorded seven total tackles over the course of 141 snaps, although he missed some time with injury. Friday is credited with 18 total tackles, three sacks and four tackles for loss in the past three seasons for the Buckeyes.

Friday may not have been a frontrunner for a regular starting job at defensive end this season, with returning starter Tyreke Smith and junior Zach Harrison in the mix, but the former four-star prospect and No. 68 overall player in the class of 2018 would have seen plenty of rotational time at the position.

Without Friday, Day said five-star true freshmen Jack Sawyer and J.T. Tuimoloau –– the No. 11 and No. 6-rated prospects in the class of 2021, respectively –– could see significant playing time even earlier than anticipated.

"They're gonna have to get on the field a little bit sooner than maybe we thought before, Day said. "That's really that whole defensive line room now, because you lose a guy."

Another player that will likely be called upon to step up in the absence of Friday is redshirt junior defensive end Javontae Jean-Baptiste. The 6-foot-5, 253-pound pass rusher certainly looks the part, but has tallied just 2.5 sacks and 3.5 tackles for loss thus far in his Ohio State tenure.