The Ohio State sophomore running back is always smiling. Actually, smiling is an understatement. He always has an ear-to-ear grin.

So it's impossible to gauge how serious an ankle injury he has by how he reacts to the subject.

"I'm good right now, the ankle is doing real well," he said, flashing the pearly whites. "I'm just ready to go out here and have fun."

The better way to judge Mr. Happy's health is the lack of a boot or any hint of a limp on the ankle that he said was rolled up on by a teammate in the Buckeyes' April 1 practice.

He won't play in the spring game April 21, but that's more precautionary than anything. It's a simple sprain, nothing to be alarmed about.

"The X-rays and everything were fine," Wells said. "It's mostly (coaches) being careful. It's part of playing at Ohio State."

It's also a sign of Wells' importance to the Buckeyes. The 6-foot-1, 225-pound bruiser is expected to shoulder a heavy load this fall with the departure of so many experienced skill players (quarterback Troy Smith, back Antonio Pittman and receivers Ted Ginn Jr. and Anthony Gonzalez).

There's no reason for Wells to rush back from a minor injury and make things worse.

"I'm a little anxious, I want to play," he said. "But at the same time, I have to think about the near future."

Safety ready to return

Sophomore safety Anderson Russell said he is fully recovered from a torn knee ligament suffered Sept. 30 at Iowa. He's being held out of contact drills just to be safe.

"I'm 100 percent, they're just keeping me out," he said. "I'll be ready in the fall."

That's good news for OSU. Russell was just beginning to emerge last season when he got hurt. He had started four games and had 16 tackles and an interception.

"That was the hardest part, because everything was starting to come together for me," Russell said. "I'm going to have to start over, but I'll be able to do it again."

Although Jamario O'Neal and Nick Patterson were listed as starters at safety on the spring depth chart, Russell said Aaron Gant and Kurt Coleman had been the starters until Gant suffered a concussion in an April 6 scrimmage.

No repercussions for coach

Taver Johnson took a job with the Oakland Raiders in February, then left only three weeks later to be the OSU cornerbacks coach. At the time, Johnson was concerned that Raiders officials (read: owner Al Davis) might take legal action for breach of contract.

Yesterday, he said that did not happen.

"No, surprisingly," Johnson said. "I thought I would get a little more heat, but it's actually kind of gone away, which is good, because that would have only been a distraction."

kgordon@dispatch.com