KENNESAW, Ga. — Pablo Fields is immersed in the lives of his children. That’s probably at least a contributing factor to why they are so successful on the field. His son Justin Fields rates as the nation’s No. 2 player for 2018.
Jaiden, the 5-star Georgia signee’s younger sister, is also committed to play softball in Athens.
Fields went through what his family has been thinking on Wednesday about Justin’s immediate future. He cataloged the reasons why his son will probably not “risk it” and compete in the Under Armour All-American game next month at less than his best.
But there’s a more pressing topic here: Pablo Fields agreed with the notion that it was likely his son will enroll early next month at UGA.
But that discussion has evolved one step at a time in regard to that exit strategy from prep sports to playing on Saturdays. Why would he not enroll early? Pablo Fields said he’s been in contact with representatives from a couple of major league clubs.
“He’s signed the papers,” Pablo Fields said about his son’s college future. “Now it is about whether he wants to leave now maybe in a week or so or stay. I think he’s leaning toward early enrolling.”
Fields can enroll early in January. Or he could come back to Harrison and take an A.P. class and play high school baseball. Chase another state title at Harrison. That would give those pro scouts a lot of chances to fill up their notebooks regarding his future on the diamond.
His son seems to have another path in mind.
“With that, he does seem to lean toward enrolling early,” Pablo Fields said.
The talk of Florida and Florida State trying to pry him away from Georgia was just a clickbait topic. That’s never where Fields was at. He even confirmed so on Wednesday.
Justin Fields said there was no stress on his signing day
“I’ve really been 100 percent committed to (UGA) for a good bit now,” Justin Fields said. “This was a great time (today) to share with my family and friends.”
But his father is never the type to close a door. He prefers options. Fields has brought up that before about playing baseball.
That plays into why the Fields family listened to what Dan Mullen and Jimbo Fisher had to say about their new programs.
“When a coach like a Dan Mullen or a Jimbo Fisher comes to your house well you gain a lot of knowledge from that,” Pablo Fields said. “Whether you go to a school or not, you gain knowledge. I listened to what they had to say and we just kind of went from there.”
Justin said that he did talk to both Fisher and Mullen. But those talks were never going to progress. He “had his mindset of Georgia the whole time.”
“He’s been dead set on Georgia since he committed there,” his father said.
The rehab from his broken finger has been steady. Fields told DawgNation that if Harrison had advanced one more round in the Georgia state playoffs, his son might have been ready.
“If it wasn’t for me then he probably would’ve played anyway,” Pablo Fields said. “The risk and reward just didn’t balance out for me there. You can’t fall. I don’t want something else to get hurt with him trying to compensate by falling a different way.”
Fields started throwing the football the day he got his cast off. The 5-star QB felt he could throw the ball fine. According to his father, “it just hurt like the dickens” when he did.
“If they would have beaten Glynn Academy, then he would have played that following week,” Pablo Fields said. “He may have gotten the adrenaline rolling and have been able to throw it enough to keep the defense honest if they would have played Lee County that next week.”
Pablo Fields seems to consider the risk-and-reward of every step. Those examples regarding his return to the field for the playoffs and the Under Armour game should help most understand their next step a little better.
Will Fields enroll early? The 5-star QB wants to. Kirby Smart and that QB room in Athens definitely want him, too.
His father’s acknowledgment of there being a good chance that Fields does that is the strongest on-the-record sign yet about that. Expect that to be the decision sometime next week.
Fields will also be back spinning the ball again.
“He’s going to throw some next week,” his father said. “A couple of times with his trainer.
Fields told the press on Wednesday that his finger is pretty flexible. He just needs to get the strength back there.