AUBURN | The shutdown is over.
After a COVID-19 outbreak forced Auburn to pause all team activities including practice for several days last week, the players and coaches returned to the practice fields Friday for the first of three workouts this weekend.
“We practiced Friday, we practiced yesterday morning and we just got off the practice field just a little bit ago,” said Gus Malzahn Sunday night. “We’re trying to get back into the swing of things. We’ve had no new positives since last Wednesday, which is a good thing. We’re just kind of going into game-week routine.”
The Tigers had 10 players and three coaches test positive for COVID in the buildup to Saturday’s game against Mississippi State, which was postponed due to a COVID outbreak within the Bulldogs’ program. Contact tracing forced approximately another 10 AU players to quarantine for a couple of weeks. Malzahn expects some, but not all, of those players to return before Saturday’s game against Tennessee, AU’s first in three weeks.
“With everything we went through last week and the practices we had this week, have been a whole lot of young guys and new guys and getting them prepared,” Malzahn said. “We’ll be having some of our other guys come back, but the good thing is we’re developing depth.
“It’s kind of, ‘next man up.’ Everybody has to be ready to go in this kind of climate. The big thing for us is we’re just excited we’re going to be able to play this week at this point. We’re ready to get back on the field.”
Auburn, which last played on Oct. 31, is scheduled to host the Volunteers Saturday at 6 p.m. CT on ESPN.
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