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The top-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide will return to previous safety protocols from 2020 in preparation for the upcoming College Football Playoff amid a nationwide spike in COVID-19 cases.
Head coach Nick Saban said the Crimson Tide players are wearing masks in the football facility and practicing social distancing during meetings, adding that 90% of his roster is vaccinated and has received booster shots.
"Am I concerned?" Saban said during his press conference Monday (December 20) via ESPN. "I'm always concerned when there's an issue out there, and we want to do the best we can to help our players be concerned about the issue and respect it so they have the best opportunity to stay safe."
Alabama practiced on Monday before taking a brief holiday break. The top-ranked Tide will travel to Texas on December 26 ahead of its Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic College Football Playoff matchup against No. 4 Cincinnati on December 31.
Saban said his staff was doing its best to educate players on the risks of COVID-19, which included a "care package with everything they need to stay safe" given to the team before sending them home for their Christmas break.
"They're really bought in to do everything they can to stay safe," Saban said. "There's no guarantee, so we want to use every protocol we can to help them stay safe."
Alabama's updated protocols come amid the NFL, NBA and NHL's respective decisions to postpone multiple games last week.
On Monday, the NHL announced its decision to pause early ahead of its planned Christmas break, postponing five games initially scheduled to take place on Thursday (December 23), after nine teams had opted to shutdown due to COVID outbreaks.