Ryan Day Says Justin Fields Will Play vs. Alabama

Ohio State will have their offensive leader on the field in the biggest game of the year.

The Ohio State Buckeyes have dealt with an awful lot of adversity this season, but they've managed to overcome all of it thus far and they're now preparing to play in the national championship game against Alabama.

While beating the Clemson Tigers was a huge validation to people around the country that counted the Buckeyes out, the lingering question after the Sugar Bowl win surrounded Justin Fields' health. Fields took a nasty shot in the rib cage on Friday and he played through clear and obvious pain after the 6-minute mark of the second quarter.

Ohio State head coach Ryan Day addressed the media on Monday afternoon for approximately 20 minutes and was asked right away about Fields' health. He credited Justin's toughness and said Fields told him he woke up Saturday feeling better than he expected to feel. While he didn't go into specifics around the injury, Day said unequivocally that Fields will play against Alabama, ending any speculation that the Buckeyes would be without their offensive leader in the national championship game.

Here is his full quote:

"I think when you, first off, saw the way that Justin finished the game, it was remarkable. I thought that was one of the gutsiest performances I've ever seen in person. It was like any other situation. It was certainly high profile to see it all go down, but I leave all that stuff up to our medical people who are the best in the country. Justin is such a competitive guy. He wasn't going to come off the field, and that's just the way he's wired. You were going to have to pull him off the field.

"It was a pretty amazing performance. It was good the next day he actually -- his comment to me was that he felt better waking up in the morning than he expected. You know, we'll keep working through the week and have a great week of preparation, get ready to play Monday night ... I definitely expect him to play." 

Personally, I think Fields is coming off the greatest individual performance in the history of Ohio State football. Here's why.

Watch the video above to hear what Fields said after Friday's game about his injury.

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