Fewer questions surround the Ohio State Buckeyes and quarterback Terrelle Pryor as they head into spring football after their triumphant Rose Bowl win.
One question that remains, however, is in regards to the health of the Rose Bowl MVP.
During media sessions heading into the bowl game, Pryor let the world in on the secret that he had been nursing a torn PCL in his knee. It was said that surgery wasn’t necessary, but Pryor went under the knife on Feb. 10 to repair the injury.
With spring practice almost a month away, Pryor believes he should be healthy and ready to go come April.
“It’s a minor surgery,” Pryor said. “Some people come back in a week. It just depends on how you heal. We’re taking it slow because we don’t have to [rush].”
Nothing could be done during the season to alleviate the injury for Pryor, but once he and the Buckeyes finished the season, it was time to decide the best option possible.
Pryor said that when the injury was inspected by Dr. Christopher Kaeding, more things had gone wrong than expected.
“Me and coach Tressel talked about it and came to the conclusion that it would be best,” Pryor said on the decision to have surgery. “We just felt that if we did it now, it would be better. It feels a lot better than when I was playing on it and without getting surgery.”
He said that he is feeling good and had his stitches out last week. While the surgery restricted Pryor for a few days, it didn’t keep him from preparing for next season for very long.
“I laid at home for a week, for about five days, and I went in and started doing upper body work because my upper body got weak from sitting at home taking pain pills,” he said. “I lost a lot of weight because I wasn’t eating and stuff like that. I am going to start to get back with the team workouts.”
The injury has been rough, Pryor said, because it has limited his ability to workout with his teammates. He has spent his time, however, preparing with strength and conditioning coach Eric Lichter on accuracy and other parts of the game that don’t involve as much physically.
Entering his junior season, Pryor should become even more of a team leader. As an upperclassman, he said there are things he will do to help lead OSU from a mental standpoint.
“I’m going to emphasize one game at a time so when that game is here we’re going to treat it like it’s our last game of the season,” Pryor said. “We’re going to act like each game is the hardest game we’re going to play and if we take that approach and study film better and know the defense better, we’ll be better.”
