COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The story is so well-known, there is no need for anybody to discuss it in Ohio State's quarterback meetings.

The Buckeyes could relive it if needed, of course. J.T. Barrett is still there in the room, more than capable of offering up a first-person account of what it's like to be thrust into the starting role and expected to keep the high-octane offensive machine humming without a hitch.

But like just about everybody else who follows college football, Joe Burrow doesn't need a refresher course on Barrett's rise to prominence as a freshman, or the unlikely postseason run authored by Cardale Jones that followed it. The expectation that Ohio State's backup quarterbacks are supposed to be ready at any moment, and the fact that they have so often been needed in recent seasons, isn't a secret. That puts the heat on Burrow in training camp, even if he isn't directly competing for the top spot on the depth chart.

"It's not really a conversation; we just all know that we have to be ready," Burrow said. "It's the backup's job to be ready for anything to happen, and if I'm not ready, then I'm not doing my job. But I'm not ready yet. I still have to get better.

"More reps. More studying. More everything. I just have to keep getting better and be ready for when my number is called."

If Burrow isn't quite comfortable enough to answer yet, that shouldn't come as a surprise. The Buckeyes just wrapped up the first week of camp and the coaching staff is still throwing a lot on Burrow's plate on the heels of a redshirt season.

Barrett admitted he didn't feel completely prepared to step in for Braxton Miller just 10 days before the season opener in 2014, after Miller -- the two-time Big Ten Player of the Year -- was lost for the season late in training camp. Given the expectations at Ohio State, the intricacies of the power-spread offense and the difficulty of playing the most important position on the field after a bit of a layoff, it might be impossible for any quarterback to feel truly prepped for that moment.

But Kenny Guiton, Barrett and Jones have all had to step up and deliver off the bench during Urban Meyer's first four seasons with the program, and each did it with flying colors.

Guiton set single-game records and pulled off a late rally to avoid an upset during the unbeaten season of 2012. Barrett emerged as a Heisman Trophy candidate while leading the Buckeyes to a conference title. All Jones did was win his first three starts, all of them in the postseason on the way to a national championship.

That's a remarkably high standard for backup quarterbacks, but it won't change for Burrow or true freshman Dwayne Haskins.

"Man, I don't even know if I was ready, for real," Barrett said. "Put in that situation 10 days before game day and it had been two years since a game rep, how many people are ready? But at that time, Coach Meyer and [then offensive coordinator Tom] Herman did their best to give me all the reps I could get.

"It's definitely important. You have to make sure who the backup quarterback is, just in case. There could be a game where something happens to me seriously or my helmet comes off or my shoelace is undone. ... And I think by the end of this camp, Coach is going to figure out who is going to be ready in case that does happen."

For a team already running low on returning starters, any kind of extended absence for Barrett could be a major problem for the Buckeyes as they try to make a return to the College Football Playoff after coming up short last season.

Burrow had already pulled ahead of Stephen Collier for the No. 2 job during spring practice; that pecking order hasn't changed since Collier, a redshirt sophomore, was lost to a season-ending knee surgery in May. But losing a passer who has been in the system for a couple years has certainly ramped up the pressure on the two young guys behind Barrett to get up to speed quickly.

"After spring, I still had a lot to prove and I still had to keep getting better," Burrow said. "That's still my mindset today. That's why I have to keep getting reps, keep getting mental reps, and I have to be ready for when my number is called."

The Buckeyes would obviously prefer not to have to dial him up. But based on their recent track record, it's safer to assume that at some point Burrow had better be prepared to take the call.