The San Diego State football team is on the lookout for a potential chickenpox outbreak after three players came down with the disease.
According to Kirk Kenney of the San Diego Union-Tribune, there is reason to worry, as training camp began this past week. As such, players have been in close contact with one another for practices, team meetings, meals and one bus ride.
“I’m afraid that it might not be just three of them,” SDSU head coach Rocky Long said after Saturday night’s scrimmage. “The team’s been together for a whole week now. It’s dramatic if we lose a few more. … What if it hits 10 other ones?”
The players who have already been hit with the highly contagious malady are junior offensive lineman Ryan Pope and senior linebackers Tyler Morris and Temerick Harper. Pope is a starter, and the two linebackers are valuable special teams players, per the report.
If prescribed medication proves effective, these players will miss around one week. If not, then they could miss up to three weeks, which puts them out right up until the regular season. And if the disease spreads throughout the team, it could become a crippling blow to the football program.
The Aztecs open their season at home on Sept. 2 against UC Davis.