Rutgers football halts practice, quarantines

The Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team is hitting the brakes on any training and quarantining all its members after six team players tested positive for COVID-19, the university announced over the weekend.

So far, the team has had 10 positive cases since returning to campus on June 15 for voluntary training, throwing more uncertainty into whether the university would push ahead with the 2020 season this fall.

“We have paused all in-person team activities, quarantined our entire program and will work diligently with Rutgers medical experts, and state and local officials to determine next steps,” Rutgers officials said in a statement.

Late last week, Michigan State – another member of the Big Ten athletic conference, along with Rutgers – said it was quarantining its entire football team for 14 days, after several positive cases of COVID-19 were identified.

The football teams of Ohio State, the University of Maryland and Indiana University have also had positive cases. Along with Rutgers and Michigan, there are now a total of five Big Ten teams that stopped workouts due to COVID-19 cases.

This month, the Big Ten said it would only play in-conference games. Meanwhile, Rutgers said it would be closing off its stadium to fans, joining two other major football teams, the New York Jets and Giants.