Boise State athletics finds a few more COVID-19 cases; Cowboys’ Vander Esch injured
Boise State has conducted 1,192 COVID-19 tests on athletes, coaches and staff members since early June with 48 positive cases, a spokesperson for the athletic department said Tuesday.
Athletes began returning to campus for voluntary workouts during the first week of June, and less than a week later, the university announced multiple players tested positive for the virus but declined to identify them or the sport they played.
In late August, Boise State announced it planned to test at least 200 athletes a week, and on Sept. 1, the university said it had tested more than 600 members of the athletic department with 41 positive cases since June.
The latest numbers indicate seven new positives in the past two weeks.
The Boise State football team is still waiting to find out if there will be a spring season after the Mountain West indefinitely suspended the fall season in August. The Broncos’ basketball teams are also waiting for clarity on when their seasons will begin.
Decisions on both seasons are expected Wednesday and Thursday when the Division I Council is scheduled to meet.
Cowboys’ Vander Esch on IR
Former Boise State linebacker Leighton Vander Esch is expected to miss at least six weeks with a broken collarbone he suffered Sunday in the Dallas Cowboys’ loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
Vander Esch suffered the injury in the first quarter. He’s expected to return this season, but he was placed on injured reserve Tuesday and may miss between six and eight weeks, according to The Athletic’s Jon Machota.
Last season, Vander Esch missed seven games with a bulging disk, which required neck surgery in January.
As a redshirt junior at Boise State in 2017, Vander Esch was named Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year after he led the team with 141 tackles and added 8.5 sacks and three interceptions. The Cowboys picked him with the No. 19 pick in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft.
