The Florida football team started fall training camp Monday and third-year coach Dan Mullen revealed that multiple players did not participate in the first practice.

One of them was redshirt junior defensive end Zachary Carter, who has expressed COVID-19 concerns on his Twitter account. His father, Frank Carter, told Gators Territory their family has been impacted by the virus.

“First of all, he’s my son and I support him. He told me he wants to play, but he just doesn’t feel safe right now,” he said. “We’ve had a couple friends of the family who’ve passed away from the effects of COVID. Now some players in other conferences are having issues with their heart (myocarditis).

“I think all of that is kind of alarming to him. There’s really not enough research or data to give him information that can put his mind at ease. So he’s just taking the cautious route.”

Carter’s father had his own battle with COVID-19, but hasn’t told his son about the experience. He didn’t want to worry him more.

“I went through it,” Carter said. “I was having those night sweats and I couldn’t consume enough liquid to keep me from being dehydrated. So I had to get rushed to the hospital because my wife said I was hallucinating. I didn’t tell Zach any of this stuff.”