It’s been nearly two weeks since the Minnesota Gophers were able to take to the field, as a result of COVID-19 cases within the team.

The Gophers’ games with Wisconsin and Northwestern had to be canceled, and head coach P.J. Fleck is optimistic his team can round out the regular season by playing at Nebraska on Dec. 12.

“You just never know when we are going to officially play again,” Fleck said on his in-season show Wednesday night. “We plan on playing against Nebraska. There will be a lot of guys out for that game, based on that 21-day (Big Ten quarantine) window, but again, we plan on playing.”

Fleck said that while the Gophers had positive cases, there haven’t been any hospitalizations and most of the cases have been asymptomatic.

The week the Gophers have been able to resume outdoor conditioning in small groups, and hopefully they will return to the practice field by the end of the week. Fleck will be preparing the Gophers to take on Nebraska, but the decision to proceed will be up to the team’s health and medical experts, as well as Big Ten officials.

Should Minnesota be able to play Nebraska, they will be without receiver Rashod Bateman. Bateman opted out of the remainder of the season after football activities were paused and is preparing for the 2021 NFL Draft – he is expected to be a first round pick.

Fleck discussed how COVID-19 has affected the Gophers, the win over Purdue and the team’s hopes to play Nebraska in the full interview below.