'Maybe some don't want to play:' Lane Kiffin reacts to SEC football COVID-19 postponements

OXFORD — As more than half of the SEC won't play this week because of COVID-19, Ole Miss is still on schedule to play its game Saturday against South Carolina.

Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin updated Ole Miss' COVID-19 numbers on Wednesday. Kiffin said he thinks Ole Miss has three players in the COVID-19 protocol. Kiffin did not make the distinction between whether these players have tested positive or if they're in the protocols because of contact tracing.

The Rebels are coming off a bye week where players were allowed to leave campus and go home for the weekend. Kiffin said he was concerned that weekend away from the program might've caused an outbreak but thus far, the team has come back clean.

"Somehow we tested Monday and Tuesday and somehow had all negatives which was great," Kiffin said. "I was very concerned with everybody gone for the whole weekend and not being around."

This week has been a tough one for the SEC when it comes to COVID-19. Four games have been postponed because of outbreaks at LSU, Mississippi State, Texas A&M and Missouri. Beyond that, Arkansas coach Sam Pittman will not be on the sidelines for the Razorbacks' game against Florida. And though Kentucky expects to play against Vanderbilt, the Wildcats did experience an increase in cases early in the week.

Kiffin said he hasn't followed the news outside of his program too closely. When asked if Texas A&M's outbreak would put his team's matchup against the Aggies next week in danger, Kiffin said he didn't even know if the Aggies' game against Tennessee was canceled because of cases among the Aggies or Volunteers.

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Of course, Kiffin still took the opportunity to use his well-known wit to take a few jabs at the rest of the conference. 

Kiffin ended his answer about COVID-19 postponements with the important distinction that postponements happen because of a combination of positive tests, contact tracing and injuries. It's not all about the positive tests. It's about teams feeling comfortable about having the numbers to play a game with the amount of scholarship players it has available.

Maybe some teams are using those numbers as a crutch, Kiffin theorizes.

"I guess injuries are counting in those numbers that people can get out of playing," Kiffin said. "I don't know. Maybe some people don't want to play. Maybe their season's not going good. So who knows?"

Ole Miss hosts South Carolina on Saturday at 6:30 on the SEC Network.

Contact Nick Suss at 601-408-2674 or nsuss@gannett.com. Follow @nicksuss on Twitter.