Recovery going well for Gill

Ohio State hosted a few of the top in-state juniors on Saturday for unofficial visits, including the state's top ranked player, Jaelen Gill. The 6-foot, 185-pound running back/athlete out of Westerville South has not been a stranger to the local school and once again enjoyed his time on campus.

"Obviously all of my visits to Ohio State are fun," said Gill. "Ohio State is one of the toughest places to play at, but I don't think anyone expected that at all. Even though Tommy Armstrong got injured, it was already 21-3 when he got injured so they were already putting it on them."

The 62-3 win certainly impressed the recruits in attendance and also opened up some eyes nationally after a couple of shaky weeks.

"I was happy with how they played," he said. "They definitely needed a statement win and that was kind of like their Wisconsin game a couple of years back. But I had fun talking to the other recruits and everything, it was a good night."

Gill made the short drive over in plenty of time to see the coaches before the game, even getting to hang out with Urban Meyer to watch some of the early Big Ten games.

"I was actually like the first recruit to get to the Blackwell," he said. "We were some of the first people there, so me and coach Meyer were just chilling watching (college football on TV). We were just talking and hanging out for probably about an hour. I talked to everybody before and after the game, coach Mick, Mark Pantoni, coach Fickell, coach Alford, coach Johnson."

Gill's decision to visit on Saturday is not expected to impact his previous plans to be back on campus for the Michigan game. The Rivals100 product still intends to do that.

"I'll be there for that game," he said.

In the mean time, most of Gill's focus is on getting healthy after fracturing his fibula in the second week of the season. His recovery is right on pace with where he hoped it would be.

"It's getting a lot better," he said. "I'm walking in a boot, so I'm happy about that. I'm just staying positive. I'm definitely on track. The initial diagnosis was that I would be back in 3-4 months after surgery, I should be back by February."

Gill has started his physical therapy routine but it's going to be slow-going until he can get out of the boot.

"I'll probably be in the boot for at least another month," he explained. "I've started therapy with like resistance bands and stuff like that, but very light, nothing heavy at all."

Staying positive mentally and staying motivated are two big challenges that come with recovering from a serious injury. Gill is doing fine on both of those fronts and is motivated to return with a vengeance next fall for his senior season.

"Next year, people are going to wish that I never came back."