Activities halted amid uptick in COVID-19 cases
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — No. 10 Florida paused all team activities Tuesday following “an increase in positive COVID tests among players.”
Athletic director Scott Stricklin said the decision was made “out of an abundance of caution.” Stricklin added that coach Dan Mullen has spoken with players and parents and that he told last week’s opponent, Texas A&M, and Saturday’s opponent, defending national champion LSU.
Stricklin said the situation “will be re-evaluated by UF Health and the athletic department’s sports medicine staff Wednesday.” Florida tested players Tuesday morning and expects to have test results Wednesday.
The shutdown came three days after Mullen’s eyebrowraising comments about wanting 90,000 fans at Florida Field to create a better homefield advantage against the Tigers. Mullen didn’t double down Monday, but he didn’t back down, either.
He brushed aside criticism and praised his players for how well they have handled COVID safety protocols.
“I think if you look at what we’ve been able to do, the safety precautions we have that our players have followed, our coaches follow, our staff follows, you know, I think we’re a model of safety of what we’ve been doing during this time period,” Mullen said.
“So I’m really proud of how we’ve handled everything and how safe we’ve been with everything we’re doing and all the precautions we’ve had in place during this time.”
Texas A&M AD Ross Bjork said the Aggies have reviewed contact tracing data deployed by the conference and found nothing yet.
“At this point, there has been no impact within our football program, but we will continue our regular testing regiment this week and stay diligent with all of our safety protocols,” Bjork said in a statement.
The Southeastern Conference already has postponed one game this week: Vanderbilt and Missouri was tentatively pushed to Dec. 12 because COVID-19 issues have left the Commodores without enough players. It was the first SEC game rescheduled due to coronavirus-related problems.