COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State football opened spring practice Monday, though the Buckeyes took the field without a trio of injured players. Freshman safety DeShawn Stewart, freshman running back Isaiah West and senior safety Keenan Nelson Jr. were in the injury pit during an hour-long open session of practice.

Ohio State opened spring practice on Monday with the first six periods open to reporters. Below are notes and observations from the Buckeyes handful of drills at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.

Ryan Day, head coach of the defending national champion Ohio State Buckeyes, will speak to the media Monday following the first day of spring football practice. Watch the live stream below or on the Dispatch YouTube channel.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ryan Day’s plan for Ohio State’s quarterbacks this spring would be less about a battle to be the next starter and more about individual development. He wanted the opportunities for Julian Sayin, Lincoln Kienholz and Tavien St. Clair to be as equal as possible and that vision played out on Day 1 of spring practice.

Malik Hartford was the first-team strong safety, Austin Siereveld practiced at left tackle and Lincoln Kienholz and Julian Sayin split first-team QB reps to start spring practice.

Ideally, Alabama would be at full tilt during spring practice, but the chance to build depth is a silver lining.

I’ll try to keep my mouth shut because I think we’ve got to prove a lot of different things,” coach Luke Fickell said Thursday.