Ohio State football receiver Julian Fleming shakes off shoulder injury scare in scrimmage

When coach Ryan Day introduced Julian Fleming at a recent fundraising dinner for one of the NIL collectives supporting Ohio State, he had a story to tell about the junior wide receiver’s resolve.

“I’m probably embarrassing him a little bit,” Day began.

In an intrasquad scrimmage held last week, Fleming’s shoulder popped out, Day said. But instead of sidelining him for the rest of the practice, Fleming popped it back in himself and went on to catch two touchdowns.

As he recounted the episode to the crowd of attendees, Day added that he is expecting “big things” from Fleming when the Buckeyes begin their season Sept. 3 with a top-five matchup against Notre Dame.

Fleming, who has positioned himself for a role as a potential starter following the departures of Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson, felt his response in the scrimmage left him feeling more assured about his improvement over this offseason.

“It definitely boosted my confidence a lot,” Fleming said. “It’s a painful thing, but sometimes pain is just in your mind. You've got to constantly work through little bumps and tweaks. Painful stuff and being injured is very different.

“The way I took it was that it was another little punch along the way, and I had to do everything I could to help my team.”

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Shoulder issues hampered him in previous seasons. He underwent a procedure on his left shoulder in the offseason following his freshman season. But Fleming, who was the nation’s top-ranked receiver in the 2020 recruiting class, is said to have been at full strength for much of this year.

He started off spring practice in March describing himself as 110% and has remained hardened by past setbacks.

It helped him to persevere last week.

“Sometimes you've got to roll with the punches,” Fleming said. “I take it as just another little bump along the way. Obviously, I've been plagued with little bumps, bruises, injuries.”

Along with remaining healthy, Fleming has made other strides this offseason. He said he prioritized route-running techniques and his stance at the line of scrimmage.

His development took time. He attended Southern Columbia Area High School in Catawissa, Pennsylvania, a rural town in the east-central portion of the state, that ran a Delaware wing-T offense. The pace of the Buckeyes’ spread offense was much faster. He wasn’t used to play calls being signaled from the sideline instead of a huddle.

But the biggest hurdle he faced was improving as a route runner.

“My route running wasn’t up to par,” he said. “It wasn’t that crisp. Now I feel like a whole different player in that aspect of football.”

Over his first two seasons with the Buckeyes, he caught 19 passes for 160 yards and one touchdown.

Fleming’s motivation was seen during offseason strength and conditioning workouts, and he was among seven players recognized as an “Iron Buckeye” by the staff for their dedication.

“Right after the season, I had to focus a lot on me,” Fleming said, “and a lot of the stuff I had been through, I just realized I have to continue to build on that and not dwell on it. I had to constantly build and build and build. I’m starting to build into that football player I’m really, really driving to become.”

It was a sign of his leadership. Five of the other six players to receive “Iron Buckeye” status were also recognized as team captains.

“I don’t want to say he’s grown up,” said Kamryn Babb, a fellow receiver and returning captain, “but he’s definitely matured in a way you can visibly see it. He’s kind of stepped into that leadership role. Whether people on the outside see him as a leader, I would definitely put him in that category.”

Joey Kaufman covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch. Contact him at jkaufman@dispatch.com or on Twitter @joeyrkaufman

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State football receiver Julian Fleming shakes off injury scare