Florida halts football amid 19 COVID cases
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The No. 10-ranked Florida football team paused all team activities Tuesday following “an increase in positive COVID tests among players,” putting Saturday’s home game against defending national champion LSU in jeopardy.
The Gators had 19 positives following testing Tuesday morning, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because of privacy laws. The Independent Florida Alligator first reported the total number of positives.
Athletic director Scott Stricklin said the decision to halt meetings and practices 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, the Tigers.
Stricklin said the situation “will be re-evaluated by UF Health and the athletic department’s sports medicine staff 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 then.