Derek Mason says Vanderbilt is “a shell of a football team right now” due to COVID-19.
The Commodores only had 56 scholarship players available for last weekend’s game against South Carolina. Right now, Mason says the team is down to the high 40s of scholarship players.
It takes 53 scholarship players to compete in the Southeastern Conference. Vandy’s game against Missouri this weekend has already been postponed.
Here’s an excerpt of Mason’s comments:
Since the SEC announced that Vanderbilt’s previously scheduled game this coming weekend at Missouri would be postponed, the Commodores have undergone another round of testing. Vanderbilt coach Derek Mason said Wednesday on a Zoom meeting with reporters that the team’s roster of available players currently hovers in the high-40s, well short of the SEC’s requirement of 53 players to compete in games. Still, Vanderbilt had enough players and staff to hold practice on Wednesday.
“Looking at the team, it’s a shell of a football team right now when you look at the guys who are out and where we’re at,” Mason said. “To not have a game this week for us is not necessarily what we want, but it’s where we sit.”
Mason said Vanderbilt’s case number isn’t all that high but that contact tracing has sent many players into quarantine some two or three times since football activities started in June. University policy requires that students who test positive isolate for 10 days, whereas those who have been tied to cases via contact tracing must quarantine for 14 days. Athletes then go through PCR testing and cardiac screening that includes an MRI due to concerns over myocarditis, a rare heart condition stemming from viral infections that can cause sudden death. All of that, per Mason, easily can knock out players for three weeks.
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