Ohio State Football: Coach Luke Fickell Addresses QB Situation for the Buckeyes

Tuesday's weekly press conference for Ohio State coach Luke Fickell was flooded with questions about quarterback Braxton Miller and a possible injury.

Regarding Saturday's game against Toledo, Fickell casually stated, "Braxton was dinged up a bit...you've got to kind of adjust on the run."

This set the reporters into a flurry of questions. When asked to clarify if Miller's alleged injury was the reason he didn't start against Toledo, Fickell immediately downplayed any alarm.

"I didn't say that...I said he was a dinged up a little bit early in the week, and we had a plan going in. Maybe we adjusted the plan a little bit, but the most important thing is that we're all moving forward with it.

"Getting him [Miller] involved and getting him more in there is something that we want to do, and we are going to have to just see how that happens as the whole next few weeks unfold, and a lot of that goes with preparation and I think each and every week. Hopefully we can get a little more preparation, see a little bit more and have a little bit more confidence in everything that we are doing offensively with him or without him."

Though some became worried that Miller wasn't wearing a headset on the sidelines, Fickell dismissed the idea.

"I think it's important for Braxton to grow...we want him to be visual on the sideline.

"We are really trying to push them along visually to see what we want them to see, as opposed to just listening here, and sometimes when you listen here, you know what's going to happen, so you stop paying attention at times and really processing it in your head."

Fickell then addressed quarterback Joe Bauserman's performance. 

"I thought Joe did a pretty good job in the things we asked him to do. He didn't take some chances in some situations where maybe the people in the crowd or even as you look back and think, 'oh, he really could have taken a chance and try to snake it in there.'

"We know there's things we are going to have to do moving forward, but I think Joe did a lot of the things we asked him to do. He was careful with the football. We are always going to be hard upon ourselves in that room over there behind those walls to find ways that we can get better. But I think he's still continuing to go grow. The offense is continuing to grow. And I think he's still making good decisions for us."

Though Fickell did not give any indication whether Miller would take any snaps this Saturday, his overall tone revealed that he is obviously preparing Miller to take over the team later on in the season.