Lincoln Riley Won't Address Jalen Redmond, Who No Longer Appears on Oklahoma Roster
After months and months of waiting with bated breath to learn the fate of the 2020 college football season, Lincoln Riley and the Sooners are now just four days away from hitting the gridiron.
Their first opponent is an FCS foe coming off a 1-10 season. But that description doesn't really do Missouri State justice. The Bears, loaded with new talent acquired through the transfer portal, also have a very recognizable new face of the program.
“We certainly have a ton of respect for any team that Bobby Petrino is the head coach for," said Riley in his Tuesday press conference. "It’s always fun having matchups against a guy that’s as accomplished as coach Petrino is.”
But a day after Petrino expressed that his team would head to Norman close to full strength, Riley painted a different picture. The Sooners are already without Kennedy Brooks, who opted out of the 2020 season in August. Three players who failed drug tests before last year's Peach Bowl — Ronnie Perkins, Rhamondre Stevenson and Trejan Bridges — stand to miss several games apiece due to pending suspensions as their NCAA appeal situation remains unresolved. And multiple reports Saturday indicated that Jalen Redmond would likely follow Brooks' lead and opt out.
Riley seems to be operating under the assumption that none of those four players will be available Saturday.
“The three guys that were previously out — no new update on that right now," he said. "And I think I’ve addressed with you guys how we’re going to handle that as a team, as far as any player’s decisions to play or not play.”
His response, in conjunction with Redmond's removal from the official roster listed on the team's website, all but confirms that the Sooners will proceed without the talented redshirt sophomore. Redmond led Oklahoma with 6.5 sacks in 2019.
When reminded that the program hasn't released COVID-19 testing data since August, Riley said that the Sooners will attempt to be more covert about any further positive tests.
“As far as active cases, we’re to the point now where we’re playing games, and any positive test or contact trace is going to have game repercussions," he said. “We’ve probably been the most transparent team in the country… but you never want to give your team a competitive disadvantage.”
The Big 12 announced last week that each of its teams must be able to field a full 53-man roster in order to play a game, with personnel minimums at offensive lineman (7), interior defensive lineman (4), and quarterback (1).
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