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Justin Fields willing to play through pain in B1G Championship Game: ‘I don’t care how much it hurts’
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Time and again this season, Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields has proven to be one of the toughest players in college football. It’s been especially true over the last two weeks.
In Ohio State’s 28-17 win over Penn State on Nov. 23, Fields appeared to sustain an injury, but it didn’t seem to serious. Shortly after the game, head coach Ryan Day said his quarterback would be fine and able to play against Michigan.
Last weekend in Ann Arbor, Fields took another significant shot and sustained an injury to his knee, this one a little more unsettling. The former five-star quarterback was on the turf for quite some time in the third quarter before walking to the sidelines. Shortly after returning to the game, he threw a 30-yard touchdown pass.
Everyone believed that Fields might’ve been perfectly fine.
But on Tuesday, Fields admitted that his knee still hurts and that the bulky knee brace wasn’t just for precautionary purposes. That injury is still bothersome.
It will not be keeping him out of the B1G Championship Game on Saturday, though. As Ohio State attempts to close out a perfect season with a third-straight conference title, Fields will be under center leading the charge.
“It hurts right now, of course,” Fields said while meeting with the media. “In my mind, I’m playing on Saturday, I don’t care how much it hurts.”
Fields said he’s doing a little extra work with the athletic trainers right now in order to be in the best shape he can be in when Saturday’s game against Wisconsin kicks off. When the game is underway, Fields said he can’t worry about his knee any longer.
This season, Fields has thrown for 2,654 yards and 37 touchdowns with just one interception while completing over 68 percent of his passes. He also has 470 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns on 111 attempts. He’s one of Ohio State’s three Heisman contenders, along with defensive end Chase Young and running back J.K. Dobbins.
Ohio State and Wisconsin will kick things off at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday from Indianapolis.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB