Ohio State CB Denzel Burke taken to locker room after suffering apparent lower body injury against Purdue
Ohio State’s training staff has taken starting cornerback Denzel Burke to the locker room after he got his legs taken out from underneath him following a long Purdue passing play in the third quarter. Ohio State has not revealed the nature nor severity of Burke’s injury.
“Denzel Burke is heading to the locker room; I would assume he’s done for the day considering the score of this one,” The Athletic’s Cameron Teague tweeted.
Freshman Jermaine Mathews replaced Burke for a play before Jordan Hancock moved from the slot to outside and Sonny Styles came in at nickel.
Burke notched three tackles prior to the injury, giving him eight on the season. He leads all Buckeyes with a coverage grade of 84.6 (min. 10 snaps), per Pro Football Focus.
Burke came onto the scene in 2021, starting as the Buckeyes’ No. 1 corner in Week 1 on the road against Minnesota. He remained the Scarlet and Gray’s top corner throughout his freshman year, leading the defense in snaps played and recording 35 total tackles, 12 passes defended, an interception and a touchdown.
The sequel was not as good as the original. Statistically, Burke did not have as good of a sophomore season with 34 total tackles and five passes defended as part of a cornerback room that didn’t record a single interception. But just watching Burke, it was clear something was off with his play for most of the year.
Much of that had to do with various injuries Burke suffered throughout the season. While he played the most snaps of any corner, the sophomore missed two games and played part of the year with a cast on his hand after surgery.
“A lot,” Burke said when asked how the injuries affected him. “Physically, I couldn’t do a lot of things. I had the shoulder, I had an ankle, the hand, fingers. So I’m healthy this year, thank God. So, God willing, I could just stay healthy all year.”
Burke’s performances improved toward the end of the year, specifically in the College Football Playoff semifinal against Georgia, where he played arguably the best game of the season.
“It’s always been a validation for myself because I know what I can do on the field,” Burke said. “I felt like I finished really strong my second half of the season, and I just wanted to finish off strong and then have some momentum going into this year. And that’s what I did.”
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