AUBURN, Ala. – This Saturday, Auburn was supposed to host A-Day inside Jordan-Hare Stadium. The players would typically be finishing up the final practices of the spring this week while still attending class and working out. This year is anything but typical.
Instead, senior linebacker K.J. Britt is at home in Oxford, Alabama, with a new daily routine.
He wakes up around 8 a.m. every day, attends his classes through Zoom and then breaks for lunch before working out on his own in the afternoon. Later, he might jump on another Zoom call with the defensive coaches or finish any homework that was assigned, but outside of that, he spends most of time with his family.
"That's really all," Britt said. "There's not much you can do."
Britt is not alone. That's the new norm for college football players across the country who are stuck at home because of COVID-19. It's no different at Auburn where there won't be any A-Day or spring practice at all this year. But the players are adjusting to this new world with virtual meetings and self-quarantine workouts because staying safe trumps football right now.
"Football is important, I promise you it is, but right now we're just trying to make sure everybody is staying safe," Britt said. "So the conversations we've been having as a team are just checking up on everybody and making sure everybody is OK and making sure everybody's families are OK. I've been reaching out to guys and just making sure that everybody is good. That's my main concern.
"Once we get back down there, I promise you football will ride on by itself. I just want to make sure everybody can make it back because the coronavirus is real. I don't want anybody on our team or anybody to have to lose a loved one or have to lose their life over not social distancing."
So what does a self-quarantine workout look like for Britt? There's a lot of push-ups, sit-ups, body weight squats and jumping rope.
The First Team All-SEC linebacker, who was third on the team with 69 tackles a year ago, is also watching plenty of film in his downtime. But he's not watching other teams or other linebackers. He's primarily watching himself, seeing where he can improve.
"I'm my biggest critic," Britt said. "I know there are some great linebackers that have great games, but I need to improve my game. I just watch myself right now. I know what I need to improve on, so I just watch myself and see how I can improve. Then I go out there in the yard and try to work on something."
Heading into his senior season, Britt says he wants to become more versatile and open up his range as a linebacker. That goal hasn't changed just because the circumstances around him have. It's just more on him now to make the strides to get to where he wants to be.
If there are any doubts as to how motivated Britt is about working out, the most excited he got on a Zoom call with reporters Thursday was when he pulled out his handheld speaker.
"It's my main thing," he said. "It's hard to work out without music. This little speaker right here, I just take it everywhere I go and keep it in my pocket like a phone."
Always working out. Always wanting to get better. Always leading by example.
It's a different world we're all living in right now, but Britt plans to do everything in his power to make sure his senior season is his best season yet at Auburn.