13 days after it first reported the outbreak, San Diego State football is recovering from its fall camp chickenpox scare.
Despite The Daily Aztec’s report that the number of cases was higher than the university would let on and some tips from within the athletics department that the outbreak has spread to other teams and student workers in the department — as of Wednesday, Aug. 23, the number of confirmed cases of the virus is still at five.
The team also held three players out of practice and sent in cultures to test for the virus, but never reported on the results of the cultures.
All eight players have returned to football activities, with several players, including junior offensive lineman Ryan Pope, returning as soon as three days after their diagnosis.
Senior linebacker Tyler Morris, who was the first player to come down with the virus, was the lone case that head coach Rocky Long referred to as “serious.”
Almost two weeks after the saga began, Long was cracking jokes about it.
“He’s got fresh legs,” Long said of junior wide receiver Fred Trevillion, after a scrimmage this week. “He’s a lot faster than everyone because he’s gotten seven days off, gee-whizz.”
Trevillion was one of the five confirmed cases, along with Pope, Morris, senior linebacker Temerick Harper and senior offensive lineman Antonio Rosales.
The absences have given a lot of young player, such as redshirt freshman wide receiver Isiah Macklin, freshman linebacker Andrew Aleki and redshirt freshman offensive lineman Tyler Roemer, opportunities for reps during camp.
While the team has yet to release the depth chart, all three players have been featured heavily during scrimmages the last week, and Long said that Aleki is fighting for a starting spot.
Despite the returners, Long said that the players are still at risk. According to the CDC, it can take up to 10-14 days for symptoms to show.
Likewise, if someone who is vaccinated contracts the virus they can still spread it to others.
“We aren’t out of the woods yet,” Long said.
The Aztecs have a little over one week more of fall camp before their season opener against UC Davis on Saturday, Sept. 2.
