Jeff Brohm: 'We're on pause'
Jeff Brhom said tonight on his radio show that Purdue is on pause as it deals with a COVID-19 outbreak.
“I don't know how long the pause lasts,” said Brohm. “But we’re on pause, which means we cannot practice and have in-person meetings. But we are going to do, is we are going to have virtual meetings and continue to prepare and learn what we were going to do for IU and prepare and get better at what we're doing and try to make all the improvements that we need to make.”
Indiana also is dealing with an outbreak that caused it pause on Wednesday, which led to a mutually agreement by both schools to cancel this year’s Old Oaken Bucket game on the same day. This came a day after the Boilermakers cancelled practice. Purdue and Indiana won’t meet for the first time since 1918 and 1919, when the Spanish Flu pandemic scrubbed the games.
“There's been a little flare-up here recently,” said Brohm. “Quite a substantial bit more things happen in that regard that I'm really not able to discuss. But we've got some issues … we’re trying to kind of see how this plays out over the next little bit and see if we can get back to normal here soon.”
Now, the question begs: Will Purdue play again in 2020? Purdue (2-4) is slated to play a final time, the weekend of Dec. 18-19 vs. a TBD Big Ten East foe. But it may be a challenge to get on the field. Brohm said his players are tested six times a week for COVID. The one day they aren’t: Mondays, which is the traditional day off for players.
When could the Boilermakers get back on the field?
“You know what?” said Brohm. ”Your guess is as good as mine. I don't know. I don't make the decisions on this. We were preparing for IU just like we would any normal week and this just kind of happened. How long you pause, I don't know what that rule is. We’re continuing to test and we're continuing to have not only the rapid test but the PCR test, as well, that is supposed to be more accurate and trying to gauge what's happened here. Sometimes when you get some that happened and a few more because of the close contact happened, as well. So, we’ll see if we can get this thing to spike down and get back on the field.”
The good news through this outbreak: There don’t appear to be any serious health issues for players.
“Well, that's the good part,” said Brohm. “We’ve had good success with our guys that have had this be able to come back to normal. As you know, it wipes them out 21 days from playing. And that's kind of a dilemma right now, as well, with a flare-up is they're going to be out 21 days from playing a lot of guys. But, as far as their overall health, I think we've done a good job of managing it, making sure we take care of it, given them medicine, following up, making sure that they're going through the proper protocol. I feel like all of our guys have healed up and are back to normal. It’s just one of those things that until we get a vaccine, we won’t be able to kind of really get past this because it seems like it's kind of hit college basketball here recently and now our team and IU.”
It’s unknown how many Boilermakers have been impacted. The athletic department stopped issuing weekly COVID reports last month as the first semester drew to a close and students left campus for Thanksgiving break not to return until January. But names never were inclued. We do know Brohm tested positive for COVID earlier this season and missed the opener vs. Iowa on Oct. 24 while he isolated.
Star sophomore defensive end George Karlaftis tested positive on Nov. 24 and currently remains in isolation, which the school made public. He's expected back for the final game on Dec. 18-19. And it's believed sophomore outside linebacker Jalen Graham also has been infected. Brohm was asked about Graham's absence for last Saturday's game vs. Nebraska.
“Well, as you know, there's things going on in the world with sickness things, so I can't reveal what's going on,” said Brohm. “But, you know, he's gonna be out with some issues because of that.”
For now, Brohm will move on as best he can.
“So, we are going to continue the virtual meetings,” he said. “Now, it wipes you off the practice field, it wipes you out of the weight room. I think you can schedule an appointment for treatment. But you can't have very many people in there at one time. So, there's just a lot of things you have to go through and we're going through now and we'll see how this plays out and see if we can get this spike down.”
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