Ryan Day Backs Up Justin Fields Amidst Pre-Draft Attacks on His Character
Justin Fields might not be bothered by what has been said about him in the media the last couple days, but Ryan Day made it clear he certainly does.
Perhaps it's fair to break down football-related criticisms of one of the nation's premier players. But attacking his character is out of bounds and it's pretty clear Ryan Day and other members of the Buckeyes are willing to put their names on the record to defend their former start QB.
“Yeah, there’s a lot of talk out there, and I guess maybe they think they know him better than I do,” Day said on Friday morning after a spring practice. “When I think of Justin Fields, I think of somebody who got off the field against Clemson and for the next year just grinded towards getting back to that same situation and winning that game. It started with the offseason. He got in here and he was one of the hardest workers in the weight room with Mick.
"Then it went to the quarantine, and during that time, [strength and conditioning coach] Mick Marotti actually said that [Fields] inspired him. Justin Fields inspired Mick Marotti. He changed his diet. His work ethic was off the charts. He came in here in great shape. Then we get here and the preseason gets canceled, the season gets canceled. He doesn’t opt out and go to the NFL Draft. Some guys did.
“So, I’ve heard all kinds of different things, I don’t know what people have said and what they haven’t. I read stuff on my phone, I don’t quite understand any of that stuff. Love for football? There are a lot of guys who opted out. Are they saying the same things about those guys who didn’t want to play? Now, not only does he not opt out, he fights to get the season back. He has a petition, he goes on national TV and fights to get the season back. Then he comes out and plays — and plays really well.”
Day is speaking specifically about the comments made by ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky on The Pat McAfee Show this week. Orlovsky has defended Fields a few times and seems to think highly of him, but he shared publicly that several of his NFL sources were speculating that Fields wasn't ready to be an NFL quarterback and that they questioned his love of the game.
Clearly, that struck a nerve inside the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.
“He had a couple bad plays in the Indiana game, but he overcomes the adversity,” Day said. “To me, if everything just goes smoothly, that’s a red flag because you’ve never gone through adversity before. He has been through adversity. He had to go through the transfer at Georgia. He had to come in and earn his way here. That game with Indiana was tough and the Northwestern game was kind of clunky, then it comes back in that [Sugar Bowl] and throws six touchdown passes, gets drilled in his back — most people would have begged out at that point. He didn’t. He comes back in a play later and throws a touchdown pass and goes on to complete the goal of what he set the year before to beat Clemson in that same game.
“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. Whoever is going to draft Justin Fields is going to get a great player and a great person. When he sets his mind to something, he gets it done. I think the world of him, and I’m just upset that some people would say that about him. The crazy thing about Justin is that it doesn’t bother him. When I talked to him about it, he said: 'Let people talk.' He knows eventually somebody is going to draft him and he’ll have to go play. All the talk goes away and you just go prove it on the field. That’s what I have to say about that.”
Considering that some of Fields' best plays as a Buckeye came right after he got hurt - the 2019 Michigan game and last year's Sugar Bowl vs. Clemson immediately come to mind - combined with the way his teammates and coaches talk about him, his ridiculously good Pro Day and his leading the fight to bring back Big Ten football last fall, attacking his character is mystifying and uncalled for.
Nobody knows Fields better than the guys that were in his locker room the last two years. If there are NFL scouts or coaches/executives that have questions about his integrity or his work ethic, I'm sure the Buckeyes are one phone call away.
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