Josh Drayden backs up teammate Chase Garbers on COVID-19 controversy
Cal cornerback Josh Drayden added his piece to the Golden Bears’ ongoing frustrations with the university’s health officials on Monday.
Drayden backed up his quarterback Chase Garbers who spoke up about having to miss Saturday’s game versus Arizona. Garbers asserted that players feel pressured by the university to take tests that are not mandatory.
Twenty-four Golden Bears had to miss last week’s game against Arizona because of COVID-19. Five coaches also missed the game. The Bears lost, snapping a two-game winning streak.
Josh Drayden, a senior out of Dallas, recorded seven tackles (five solo) in the 10-3 loss.
Garbers vented his frustrations with the University Health Services’ handling of the recent COVID-19 outbreak via Twitter.
“We players are frustrated with our University Health Services,” Garbers began in a statement. “City and University officials spoke to us today, (and) they really had no answers for us. They just beat around the bush and deflected our questions. However, we did come away with that the testing last week was not mandated by anyone, it was highly recommended, means they should’ve never happened.
“But the university told us it was mandated and we could not participate unless we tested. They will continue to test us this week. These tests also aren’t mandated but highly recommended so therefore we should have a choice on whether to take the test or not. But they are still forcing us to take the test with the threat of canceling competition unless we test. Nothing was mandated but it was enforced as so with the threat of keeping players and staff out of competition until we tested and the same if for this week.
“We have worked too hard to have someone take this all away from us, it is wrong. We deserve answers and transparent communication.”
Cal players, coaches sidelined
According to independent Cal reporter Avinash Kunnath, most players who previously tested positive will play against USC this week.
Cal’s first public announcement regarding players being in COVID-19 protocol came last Thursday, but the school didn’t provide any details regarding the situation – other than Golden Bears’ head coach Justin Wilcox saying that he had some players that began to feel unwell on Monday.
“Our primary concern is for the health of our student-athletes, and we continue to monitor the situation closely,” Cal athletic director Jim Knowlton said in a statement.
“As we know, this pandemic is not over. We need to respect it and understand that it can affect much of what we do every day. Even with 99 percent of our football student-athletes fully vaccinated, we have seen that breakthrough cases are still possible.”
Many of the players that missed Saturday’s game at Arizona were asymptomatic. Cal – with 99% player vaccination rate – said all players that made the trip received tests and clearance to travel.
Now 3-6 on the season and 2-4 in Pac-12 play, Cal will look to bounce back Saturday against USC.
On3’s Chandler Vessels contributed to this report.