Ohio State’s Fields will be ‘ good come Monday night’ for CFP title game
Justin Fields alleviated any concerns about his availability for Ohio State’s College Football Playoff championship game matchup against Alabama on Monday at Hard Rock Stadium.
The Buckeyes quarterback took a hard hit to the ribs from Clemson’s James Skalski in the second quarter of a 49- 28 win over the Tigers in the Sugar Bowl on Friday.
Fields missed only one snap afterward and threw a touchdown pass to Chris Olave on the first play after he was reinserted into the game, but the pain he was in during and after the game was evident.
While Ohio State coach Ryan Day and Fields didn’t specify what the junior quarterback’s injury was, Fields said he’ll be ready to suit up against Alabama.
“I’ll be good come Monday night,” he said Thursday afternoon.
Fields provided a similar, six- worded answer when asked if
he thought the injury would affect his play for Monday’s game.
“I’ll be good by Monday night,” he said.
Several of Fields’ teammates commended him for how he finished out the game, as he completed 22 of 28 passes for 385
yards and six touchdowns.
“It’s just a perfect example of how tough that guy is,” Ohio State tight end Luke Farrell said. “You take a hit like that and come back pretty much right away and make
some of the throws that he made, it’s like you just stand there in awe of the toughness and his ability to execute after taking a hit like that and the leadership it shows.”
Fields, who finished seventh in the voting for the Heisman Trophy, said he “definitely” felt better than he expected to when he woke up Saturday.
“I really haven’t thought about how this injury is going to affect how I’m going to play,” he said. “I’m just thinking about getting as much treatment as possible and trying to get my body right so it’s 100% [ for me] to be able to perform at a max level come Monday night.”
After Fields’ post game comments caused concerns about whether he was properly evaluated by Ohio State’s medical team, he reiterated that he trusted their evaluations.
“I think what I said after the game was kind of taken out of context,” Fields said. “I just want to make one thing clear: It’s that I have my full trust in the trainers here at Ohio State and [ Ohio State team doctor] Dr. Borchers.
“I wasn’t hesitant on taking anything that they would give me, but I was just trying to do whatever I could do to get back on the field. I think those guys handled it the way I would have wanted it to be handled.”
Although he said he didn’t know the number of players who’ll be available Monday due to COVID19 issues with the program, Day confirmed that the Buckeyes will have enough players to match up against Alabama.
“We’ll have plenty of players,” Day said.