It’s been a tough week for the SEC as it relates to COVID-19.
Florida and Vanderbilt have both had outbreaks within its respective programs and as a result, the Gators’ game this weekend with LSU has been postponed. As has Vanderbilt’s game with Missouri. As if it the postponements of the games weren’t a big enough reality check, Alabama announced that head coach Nick Saban tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday evening.
While other programs have been shaken this week, Tennessee has continued to receive good news. The Vols are going on three straight weeks without a positive test, head coach Jeremy Pruitt announced after practice on Wednesday.
“It’s the reality,” Pruitt said. “There’s probably not any family across our country that has not been affected during this pandemic, whether it’s somebody losing a family member or somebody getting COVID and missing work and going through the anxiety and trying to get well. We see it every day with our players, with our staff.
“I send my kids to school. I send ‘em to school because they need it, but I also know that there’s a risk with that. So, I get it. I hate it for anybody that has suffered through this. It’s tough times.
“But one thing that I will say is, you know, with the leadership of Greg Sankey and everybody with the SEC office, we’ve continued since March to find solutions, to find the answers to the problems, to give these student-athletes an opportunity to do something that they love to do, and try to do it in the safest way possible.”
Tennessee is testing three times a week. It’ll find out on Thursday following the third batch of testing which players will be and won’t be able against Kentucky on Saturday.
Kickoff between the Vols and Wildcats is scheduled for 12 p.m. ET on the SEC Network.
