Despite his excellent performance passing the football at Tuesday’s Ohio State pro day, the conversation about Justin Fields’ perceived shortcomings has only gotten louder over the past three days.
Most of the noise stems from an appearance ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky made Wednesday on The Pat McAfee Show, in which Orlovsky said he has “heard there are some questions with Justin Fields’ work ethic” and seemed to imply that NFL decision-makers had gotten some of that information from people within Ohio State’s football program.
Through Fields’ two years at Ohio State, though, he consistently received praise from his coaches and teammates for his work ethic, leadership and commitment to winning. Many of them would go out of their way during interview sessions to talk about all the positive qualities their quarterback was bringing to the Buckeyes both on and off the field.
So if anyone in Ohio State’s football program was actually bad-mouthing Fields to NFL coaches and scouts, that would come as a surprise. And Ryan Day certainly doesn’t want anyone to have the wrong idea about the quarterback he spent the past two years coaching.
During an appearance on 97.1 The Fan’s Morning Juice on Friday, and again during a Zoom call with reporters later Friday morning, Day passionately defended Fields against the criticism that’s come his way.
“I read some of the things that were said in the last few days, and I take umbrage with that. I don’t understand where any of that’s coming from,” Day said on the radio. “This is a guy who, after that Clemson loss (in 2019), he took that personally. Coming off of that field, the last game, ending with an interception, and all he did for the next year was work toward getting back to that game. When the COVID hit and we were in quarantine, and I think Mick Marotti would tell you, he was one of our hardest workers. And he told me the other day that he inspired Mick every day during that time. And changed his diet. And he really inspired our team. I could honestly say that.
“Then we get back here in the preseason, and the season gets canceled, and this is a guy who could have easily at that point opted out, been in the draft like so many other guys; I don’t hear people talking about them. And what did he do? He just kept working, and actually, he petitioned, went on national TV and fought to have football. You don’t do that if you don’t absolutely love football, and an unbelievable competitor.”
Anyone who needs visual evidence of just how much Fields loves football needs only to watch what he did in this past season’s College Football Playoff semifinal against Clemson. Despite taking a vicious shot to his midsection from Tigers linebacker James Skalski in the second quarter, which clearly left him in pain for the rest of the game, Fields missed just one snap before playing the rest of the game and throwing for 385 yards and six touchdowns to lead Ohio State to a 49-28 win.
When Day looks back at what Fields did in that game, and what Fields did all of last season, Day doesn’t think there should be any questions about Fields’ toughness and passion for the sport.
“He comes into the season, competes really well and gets all the way back to that same game that he lost the year before, gets nailed in the back and very easily could have come out. Didn’t. Threw six touchdowns and wins that game,” Day said. “So if you’re talking about a body of work over one year of unbelievable work ethic and competitive toughness, I’m not sure that there’s someone better out there in the country, and that’s what you’re getting if you’re drafting Justin Fields.”
Ryan Day believes Justin Fields' performance against Clemson speaks for itself as a display of Fields' passion for football.
Fields’ college career certainly wasn’t perfect. He started his career at Georgia, where he spent just one season before transferring to Ohio State. And he had a pair of bad games last season against Indiana and Northwestern, throwing five interceptions between those two games, which have been brought up time and time again by those looking to nitpick Fields as a draft prospect.
Yet Fields has shown the resiliency to bounce back when things haven’t gone his way, and Day believes that should be viewed as a net positive for Fields.
“To me, if everything just goes smoothly, that’s a red flag. Because you’ve never gone through adversity before,” said Day, who was an NFL quarterbacks coach for two years before he joined Ohio State’s staff. “He has been through adversity. He had to go through the transfer at Georgia. He had to come in and earn his way here. And then that game at Indiana was tough. And then the Northwestern game was kind of clunky. Then he comes back in that game and throws six touchdown passes.”
“If you’re talking about a body of work over one year of unbelievable work ethic and competitive toughness, I’m not sure that there’s someone better out there in the country, and that’s what you’re getting if you’re drafting Justin Fields.”– Ryan Day on Justin Fields' 2020 season
Because of how hard he has seen Fields work over the past two years, and the close relationship they’ve built together during that time, Day said it makes him upset to see people questioning Fields’ intangibles.
“All I know about Justin Fields is, he’s been one of the hardest-working guys. He’s one of the most competitively tough guys. And when he sets his mind to something, he gets it done,” Day said. “So there’s been a lot of talk out there. And I guess maybe they think they know him better than I do. But I know this: whoever’s gonna draft Justin Fields is gonna get a great player, and a great person.”
Fields himself, though, has remained unbothered by the criticism. During his press conference following Tuesday’s pro day, Fields expressed that he hasn’t paid much attention to what critics have had to say about him, while describing his work ethic as “unmatched.” And Day said Fields has expressed the same to him.
“It didn’t bother him when I talked to him about it. He said, ‘Lots of people talk.’ Because he knows eventually, someone’s gonna draft him, and he’s gonna have to go play,” Day said. “Then all the talk goes away, and then you just go prove it on the field.”
Regardless of whether Fields ends up being the second, third, fourth or fifth quarterback selected, he is expected to be one of the top 15 picks in the first round of the 2021 NFL draft – likely within the top 10 picks, and possibly as high as No. 3 overall to the San Francisco 49ers – on April 29.
