Baker Mayfield is nursing a cold but that won’t prevent the Heisman Trophy winner from suiting up for the Oklahoma Sooners in the Rose Bowl.
It’s the holiday season and it’s bowl season in college football, but it’s also the cold and flu season too as Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Baker Mayfield knows all too well. The Heisman Trophy winner has been battling a cold for the last few days that has kept him out of all organized team activities except for practice. His energy level has reportedly been zapped and he didn’t appear at media day on Saturday until the tail end.
It was initially believed that Mayfield would show up at media day but made a last-minute cameo to speak to the media that gathered in advance of the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day. Mayfield’s voice was raspy and it clearly sounded like Mayfield was under the weather.
With the biggest game of his life only two days away, is there a chance that the Heisman Trophy winner could not suit up for Oklahoma in the Rose Bowl against the Georgia Bulldogs?
No shot. This is a cold we’re talking about after all and not pneumonia.
Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley was asked about Mayfield before his star quarterback showed up and said he thought Mayfield will be ready to play but admits his signal-caller may not be at 100 percent but the cold wouldn’t be anything that keeps him out of the game.
Lincoln Riley on Baker Mayfield, who was a no-show to media day because of an ongoing illness: "I think he’ll be ready to play. Will he be at 100 percent physically? We’ll see. But he’s not going to miss this one.” https://t.co/eAlhL94j0d
— Jake Trotter (@Jake_Trotter) December 30, 2017
Mayfield is likely to be chugging DayQuil from now until Sunday night and getting as much sleep as he possibly can to kick this cold. There was never any doubt about him not playing, but Riley conceeding he may not be 100 percent is a small cause for concern. If Mayfield’s energy levels aren’t where they normally are, that could be the difference against a Georgia defense that’s been one of the best in the country all year.
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On a scale of 1-10, I’d put Mayfield’s cold at about a 3. For him, he’s probably at the tail end of this cold, which we can all attest takes about four-seven days to fully kick until we start feeling like outselves again. That should concide well with Monday’s kickoff in The Granddaddy of Them All.