KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) – Tennessee may be shorthanded on Saturday, due to COVID-19 protocols, when the No. 6 Gators come to Neyland Stadium for a rare December game.
The Vols have no new cases of COVID-19 but are without a pair of players who tested positive following Tennessee’s trip to Auburn on November, 21, and ‘about 16’ players who are in quarantine due to subsequent contact tracing protocols according to Jeremy Pruitt.
“We’ve had two guys test positive, but it dates back to Auburn,” Jeremy Pruitt said on Monday during his weekly press conference. “Unfortunately with the contact tracing, that number has grown a pretty good bit there. It’s knocked us out of a lot of the guys, which they’ll start coming back in here toward the end of this week.”
As he’s done all season, Jeremy Pruitt did not reveal which players specifically are in quarantine only that one quarterback was.
“We’ve had one that’s been affected,” Pruitt said. “Listen, the whole part of it is I’ve tried to be as transparent as we can with it. We can’t say exactly who, but these guys that are out there practicing, they’re working hard to create chemistry with our guys, so we’ll continue to do that this week.”
Per the SEC protocols players who return a positive test must isolate for ten days from the date of their positive test, those who have been in quarantine for contact tracing must do so for 14 days. With players able to return at various points this week that would indicate their respective quarantines started at different times.
