Fox Sports announced Wednesday evening that the network’s normal pregame show analysts — Urban Meyer, Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush and Brady Quinn — will be held out of this Saturday’s broadcast, with the New York Post reporting that the reason is related to COVID-19 concerns.
Per the Post report, the show’s analysts and host Rob Stone will be shelved for this weekend’s show leading into the Arizona State-Southern California game in Los Angeles because of quarantine protocols.
While the network did not disclose the specific purpose of the move, it did post a statement on Twitter that cited safety guidelines from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health and “out of an abundance of caution for our team.”
Instead of the usual group, the network will feature host Charissa Thompson along with analysts Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long and Emmanuel Acho. Bradshaw and Long are longtime members of the network’s Fox NFL Sunday pregame show, on which Thompson is an occasional reporter. Acho participates on the daily “Speak For Yourself” show on Fox Sports 1.
In addition to the cast change, Fox announced that this week’s pregame program will be shortened from the normal two-hour format to one hour, starting at 11 a.m. ET before the noon ET kickoff at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
–Field Level Media