Alabama head coach Nick Saban tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday and is isolating at home, but overseeing his team’s practice via Zoom.
Saban also kept up with his media requirements, holding a virtual conference with reporters in which he poked a little fun at the situation before taking a more serious tone.
“Something must be bad wrong — as much as I look forward to these Wednesday press conferences — for me not to be there with you today,” Saban cracked, via ESPN.
“I feel fine, so I’m not really concerned that much about my health, but you never know. Look, I basically feel like when we’re in our own personal bubble here, everybody is in a much safer place. I think as soon as you travel, you get exposed to a lot more things and a lot more people.”
One person who has little doubt Saban will overcome the coronavirus is his former protégé and current New York Giants head coach, Joe Judge.
“He’ll probably beat COVID, he’s got a pretty good record against every other opponent,” Joe Judge told reporters on Thursday. “I’m pretty confident he’ll come through there.”
Judge added that Saban’s diagnosis is a stark reminder of how everyone is susceptible, regardless of star power, to the virus. He also expressed the importance of protocols.
“We’ve got to be conscious of what’s going on around the league,” Judge said. “You look at some of the other teams that have shut down, you’re very conscious in terms of teams you had exposure to as opponents, I think you see teams have popped up with a case here or case there after playing another team.
“The biggest thing we do here is enforce the protocols. We stay on it. We harp it. Look, I’m not going to lie and act like it’s some sort of magic bubble we live in. Coaches and players all get tired of hearing ‘stay spaced out,’ make sure your mask’s on, stay apart, make sure your [contact] tracer’s uplinked. It’s day in and day out.”
To date, the Giants have done a good job handling COVID-19 and have no positive tests during the regular season.
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