Justin Fields addresses injury to throwing thumb following B1G Championship

Justin Fields was not his usual electric self in Saturday’s B1G Championship Game with Northwestern harassing the star quarterback all game long.

In the contest, Fields went just 12-for-27 for 114 yards and two interceptions. One of those interceptions proved costly right before the half when the Buckeyes were in a position to potentially take the lead.

Fields was dealing with the absence of star receiver Chris Olave with the defense clearly adjusting to better account for Garrett Wilson. The Wildcats shifted an extra man toward Wilson whenever possible, forcing Fields into some risky throws.

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After the game, Fields admitted in his postgame interview with FOX that he dinged his throwing thumb during the game. He indicated he will probably need an X-ray and believes it is potentially a sprain:

Justin Fields asked on FOX about his seemingly injured thumb: "I think it might be sprained." Says he'll probably get an X-ray on it.

— Colin Hass-Hill (@chasshill) December 19, 2020

During his postgame press conference, he made it clear that the injury was not what was impacting his performance early on. He admitted to struggling with execution early on which was just a string of bad plays.

Beyond that, Fields is hopeful for some time off to rest and heal the thumb before playing again:

Fields says the first-half passing issues were "overall execution" and says "that's on me." Says he doesn't want people to view his thumb injury as an excuse: "It's just flat-out me."

— Colin Hass-Hill (@chasshill) December 19, 2020

If Ohio State does land in the College Football Playoff, Fields will only have about two weeks to rest up before a Jan. 1 semifinal appearance. The CFP Field is set to be revealed on Sunday.