Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal announced Tuesday night that the five positive COVID-19 tests reported Friday were found to be false positives. The team was forced to shut down facilities and cancel their scrimmage this past Saturday under the assumption that the five tests were positive.
“It’s that kind of year, you have to adapt and move on,” head coach Mario Cristobal said.
Despite losing the scrimmage, Cristobal acknowledged that the team must continue to get better through practice and repetition.
“When you lose a scrimmage, it’s pretty impactful, and you can’t cram an extra 130 plays in your schedule,” he said. “We must continue to get repetitions at what we do as we install a new offense, and continue to elevate the standard for defense and special teams.”
With the team scheduled to begin its season on Nov. 7, every day is crucial, and even though a few of those days of preparation were halted, Cristobal still feels that the team got the most out of the situation.
“We had two days off our feet, and then a very thorough walk-through with guys that weren’t waiting for results,” Cristobal said. “We still made a lot out of it in every phase, and took the time to take a deeper dive into our schematic corrections, issues and areas of improvement. We made great use of it.”
Expecting the unexpected has been the story of the Ducks’ young season. On Aug. 11, the Pac-12 decided to cancel its football season only to announce on Sept. 24 that football will resume starting in early November.
With the announcement of the new shortened season, the team lost valuable pieces across the field including Jevon Holland, Brady Breeze, Penei Sewell and Thomas Graham.
“You have to be adaptable, and be able to roll with the punches, make the adjustments and go forward because at the end of the day, the ball will still be on the tee on Nov. 7, kicked off at 4:30 and no one will feel sorry for us,” Cristobal said.
It’s going to be a next-man-up mentality for the Ducks this season. The players are ready to embrace the challenge and are ready for anything that is thrown their way.
“The guys really wanted to play (Saturday night),” Cristobal said. “There was a lot of juice and energy and want to get after it attitude. I think we are really close to being able to play at the level that we expect us to play. Our practices aren’t dress rehearsals anymore. Our guys will be ready when the time is there.”
The team has already undergone thousands of COVID-19 tests, and compared to other programs around the nation, they’ve had tremendous luck in the fight against the virus. Other schools, such as the University of Wisconsin and the University of Alabama have made headlines in recent weeks for high numbers of positive tests.
“The way our medical team, our processes and protocols roll now is…I don’t know how you can do any better,” Cristobal said.
The team will resume normal operations in hopes that they will remain safe and healthy before taking on the Stanford Cardinal on Nov. 7 to kick off the season.
