KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Tennessee Vols canceled a scheduled scrimmage Saturday after 44 players were unavailable.
Vols’ Head Coach Jeremy Pruitt said the team has “seven or eight” players who tested positive for the coronavirus, and some players were unable to practice due to the contact-tracing protocol, which requires them to quarantine.
However, not all of the 44 players were unavailable because of COVID-19 concerns, others were unable to practice due to injury.
Pruitt said his program is facing a variety of adversities right now.
“It’s definitely been challenging,” Pruitt said to reporters in Knoxville. “We’ve got to continue to improve as a football team and just figure out the circumstances and figure out a way to be productive.”
Most of the players who could not participate in Saturday’s scrimmage are on the offense. Pruitt said only 30 players on the defense were available for practice.
Originally, the Volunteers were scheduled to play host to Charlotte, to open the season on Saturday. But the schedule was reconfigured due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Now, Tennessee is opening the season on Sept. 26 at South Carolina.
“I’m really happy we didn’t play today,” Pruitt said.
