COLUMBUS — It is no secret that Ohio State sophomore quarterback Justin Fields hasn’t been playing 100 percent healthy the last few weeks of the 2019 season.

Once he went down at Michigan and his knee brace had to be upgraded to a much larger and bulkier brace, Fields knew he had to stick with that protection in the Big Ten Championship game. The bigger brace limits his mobility and he knew that he couldn’t run as much as he was used to.

Fields came back into the Michigan game to finish the victory — throwing a touchdown pass on his very first attempt upon his return — and also put up impressive numbers through the air in the Big Ten Championship against Wisconsin, but he only rushed for one yard against the Badgers, his lowest of the season.

Buckeye head coach Ryan Day spoke after the Big Ten title game about his quarterback being very limited in Ohio State’s championship game-week preparation and the surprisingly small amount of reps he took during practice throughout the week.

Though his toughness was shown in that game, simply put, Fields just wasn’t himself yet and couldn’t be with that much protection on his knee.

A huge concern for the Buckeyes in their Fiesta Bowl matchup against Clemson is Fields’ ability to use his feet like he did in the regular season when he rushed for 470 yards and 10 touchdowns in OSU’s first 12 games.

Day met with the media on Monday to provide updates on the Buckeyes and what they’ll be during this time they have between now and the Fiesta Bowl.

They will practice this week before allowing players a couple of days off to relax with family. That rest and relaxation could go a long way for Fields. Day was asked how close his quarterback can get to being completely healthy by next week in order to be full go for game preparation.

“I think with this rest, he’s going to be at 100%,” Day said.

With Justin Fields’ ability to use his feet to gain yards on the ground, another element of Ohio State’s dynamic offense could be added back to the game plan, and just in time for their toughest game of the year.