With college football just more than a month away now, it will be critical that football programs are able to stay clear of COVID-19 positive tests. On Saturday, Auburn coach Gus Malzahn gave a good update on testing results on the Plains.
“I am going to give an update each week,” Malzahn said. “I told you we tested everybody week before last and had zero positives. We tested last Sunday and had zero positives for the second week in a row. We are very encouraged by that. We had four games with COVID-related issues that did not practice this week. They’ll be back and ready to go next week.
“We are going to be very transparent. We’ll keep updated from week to week. We are hoping the other programs do the same thing. Overall, it was really good to be out there on our game field with our players. I liked the way they responded.”
The Tigers first saw positive results in June when players were allowed to return to campus for voluntary workouts. With classes back in session and students returning in full force, the danger of the virus spreading is at an all-time high. Malzahn recognizes the importance of continual testing.
“About four weeks ago we had a pretty good rash of positives,” he said. “We decided to pump the breaks and kind of took off four or five days to kind of get that under control. That’s been about four weeks ago. Since then, our guys have done a super job. I think we are in a good spot now, but we aren’t taking anything for granted. It’s just new.
“For us to be successful and have a chance to play, there are going to be some sacrifices that our players, our coaches and everybody in our program is going to have to make. The last two weeks, we’ve done that and I’m real proud of them. We’ll have to continue to do that now that the students are back.”