COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Coach Ryan Day spoke Monday to discuss Ohio State preseason practice.

During the press conference, Day said tight end Bennett Christian will not play this season after testing positive for a banned substance in January.

“I tested positive this past January under NCAA testing protocols and I will not be eligible again until next January,” Christian said in a statement. “I am sorry that I put myself in this position and even more disappointed to have let down my teammates, coaching staff and family. I accept responsibility for my actions and for this suspension.”

Christian will stay on the team and continue to practice for the Buckeyes, according to Day.

“He’s a great young man who made a mistake,” Day said. “I commend him for being transparent. he accepts responsibility. He wants to share his story with everybody and with the team, which we’ll allow him to do later today so others don’t make the same mistake.”

Day also revealed linebacker Kourt Williams III suffered an ACL injury. This is the second time Williams has torn an ACL.

“I feel awful for Kourt. He’s such a great young man,” Day said.

OSU held an inter-squad scrimmage Saturday during its 10th practice session. It gave Day and the rest of the coaching staff a chance to see players compete and figure out who should play in the season opener at Indiana on Sept. 2.

Day said he is not ready to name a starting quarterback. He said he did not see the consistency he wanted to see from the quarterbacks during Saturday’s scrimmage, adding their performance was okay but not great in the red zone and could be better on third down situations.

“Didn’t really see the consistency that you want out of a starter, but there were some good things. [They] moved the team down the field a couple times,” Day said. “The bottom line is there were some good things there but there are some plays that they would want back.”

Two years ago, Day named C.J. Stroud the starting quarterback on Aug. 21 when the Buckeyes opened their season against Minnesota, which was also on Sept. 2.

Arguably just as important as quarterback is who will block for him. Ohio State must replace both offensive tackles and its center. Day said tackle is a four-way competition among senior Josh Fryar, San Diego State transfer Jimmy Simmons, freshman Luke Montgomery, and sophomore Tegra Tshabola. Simmons and Tshabola are competing at left tackle while Montgomery and Fryar are battling at right tackle.

“I think [Jimmy] has had some really good practices and he’s shown he can be the starting left tackle. he has not won that job yet but he has shown traits he can be that guy,” day said. “Josh feels comfortable playing on the right side and so does Luke . . . we’ve talked about who’s going to be the best moving forward for the long term.”

On defense, the Buckeyes return seven starters. The cornerback competition is deeper than it has been in recent years while two new safeties, including Pickerington Central graduate Sonny Styles, have emerged. Day said linebacker Cody Simon really stood out during the scrimmage and provides great depth at a position that returns both starters in Steele Chambers and Tommy Eichenberg.