Ryan Day is Helping Justin Fields Learn From Mistakes
There is perhaps no more important relationship in football than the one between quarterback and play-caller, which also happens to be the head coach in Ohio State's case.
Justin Fields and Ryan Day have a special bond and they often speak in the highest light about one another publicly. They clearly trust one another: Fields trusts Day's play calls and attention to detail in his preparation, Day trusts Fields' athleticism, film study, leadership and dedication to his craft.
It's why neither of them are panicking about Fields' 3-interception performance against Indiana while he was under constant pressure.
"He's his own worst critic. He's really hard on himself," Day said of his conversation with Fields when reviewing Saturday's game. "But that's what makes him great. He's very competitive. We just talked about in some of those situations not forcing the action, not trying to do too much with it. In a game like that, we knew that there was going to be big plays, but we also knew that they were going to get home on some things and you can't make bad plays worse. That did happen a little bit in the game ... but that's hard. He's so competitive and he also made a bunch of plays with his feet as well. It's hard for him to let go of that sometimes, but that's part of playing quarterback."
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To say that Justin Fields hasn't gone through any adversity isn't fair - every player has gone through it to some extent. He certainly went through some of that in the loss to Clemson in last year's College Football Playoff semifinal. But could going through a game like Saturday's - which happened to also include 300 yards passing, 600 yards of total offense, five offensive touchdowns in a win over a Top 10 team - help Fields become even better?
Absolutely.
"As a team and as the head coach, we do not want this to happen," Day laughed. "But if we're talking about him individually and his development and his growth, adversity is a very, very good thing. When you look back on the great quarterbacks and it comes really easy to them and they just roll through everything, the minute they hit adversity things get really hard."
Day also went on to say that he anticipates that the Buckeyes are going to see blitzes and pressures the rest of the season with the same regularity that they did against Indiana. But he's not concerned with the team being unable to handle it and he's looking forward to playing Illinois this weekend.
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