LOS ANGELES -- If you can ever call a bowl game’s media day dramatic, today was that day.

Before the start of Oklahoma’s 8:00 a.m. media day, Rose Bowl Media Director Karen Linhart announced Baker Mayfield would not be attending the event.

Camera men who had staked out Mayfield’s podium since early morning hours quickly packed up their tripods and cameras to scurry over to Lincoln Riley’s podium, the only person now capable of updating the quarterback’s status.

“He’s sick.”

Those were Riley’s first words to the media.

“We’re trying to push him to get better,” Riley added. “Trying to just get over the hump. Haven’t been able to get over the hump.”

Riley said Mayfield’s exclusion was determined just before the team left the team hotel this morning.

“Yeah, we made the decision at the end,” he said. “We tried to give him every opportunity to feel good enough to come to it. But we had a conversation before we left, and he is not in a place to be ready to come to it yet.”

Back at the team hotel, still trying to recover from practice the day before, Baker Mayfield was watching Riley speak on television as media day began.

The media hotel and the OU team hotel are within walking distance of each other. It bothered Mayfield that his coach and his teammates were having to address his illness because of his absence.

So Mayfield decided to do something about it. He asked a team driver at the hotel to bring him to media day where he arrived about 25 minutes into the event.

“This whole thing is not about me,” said Mayfield on why he decided to show up. “Oklahoma, the University of Oklahoma is here to play a playoff game. It's not about any sickness that I have. We're here to win a game. And that's what it needs to be about.

“My teammates don't need to answer questions on my behalf. I'm not dying. I'll be playing. We're focused on our goal.”

Mayfield spoke for about 20 minutes once he arrived at his podium that was as decorated and lavish as any media day podium in college football history.

The podium had its own spotlights and a bigger than life photo of the Heisman Trophy winner.

It had its own flight of stairs just to get up it.

All that was missing was a smoke machine.

Reporters and camera men slowly started to realize Mayfield had shown up and everyone started fighting for position as they hurried to get the scoop straight from OU’s quarterback.

“There was something going around,” said Mayfield of his illness. “A couple other guys on the team have had it. It's flu-like. I wouldn't say it's the flu, but it's pretty much like that.”

What we did learn this morning is there aren’t concerns about whether Mayfield will play against Georgia, but there is still concern about how healthy college football’s best player will be by Monday afternoon.

“He'll be ready to play,” said Riley. “Will he be at 100% physically? We'll see. But he's not going to miss this one.”

Mayfield’s energy levels haven’t been what Riley is used to with his quarterback. They’ve had to limit him in practice. They’ve obviously asked him to use his free time to rest inside his hotel room instead of participating in Rose Bowl outings with his teammates.

“His spirits have been good,” said Riley. “He understands it's a part of it. Pushing through it like any of our guys would. I wouldn't say he's down about it. He's just battling through it, and just trying to turn the corner. “I don't think he's far away from turning the corner, but still hasn't done it yet.”

The timing for Baker’s illness was the worst. Riley said he started getting sick as soon as he arrived back to Norman from Christmas break. The team was only in town for a few hours before flying out to Los Angeles.

By the time the team arrived, Mayfield’s flu-like symptoms were at an all-time high.

“He was pretty sick on the trip out,” Riley admitted. “Got a little worse there for a couple of days, and hopefully starting to level off now.”

Mayfield, whose voice was noticeably raspy and hoarse, says that is one of his biggest challenges moving forward.

“The biggest thing for me is just the energy level and my voice, as well. Yesterday I felt great, or the best I've felt in a while,” he said. “But this morning, I think yelling at practice did not help.”

Mayfield hasn’t been a social butterfly while in Los Angeles. But he has been able to be the quarterback of this football team during practices.

That is all Lincoln Riley wanted. And that’s what he’s got.

“I would say that I'm as involved in anything football-wise. I've been there for everything we're doing schematically and practice-wise,” said Mayfield. “I'd rather be there with my teammates on the events outside of practice. But we have a special team.

“There's a reason we're in the playoffs, and it's not solely based on me. They're not going to miss a beat without me. We also have a talented guy in Kyler Murray behind me. This team will be fine whether I'm 100 percent or not.”

But all those teammates agree. We don’t even have to ask.

They all want Baker to lead them on the field Monday against Georgia.