University of Alabama at Birmingham interim head football coach Alex Mortensen addressed his team's willingness to play South Florida on Saturday, just hours after a player was arrested for allegedly stabbing his own teammates.
Mortensen cited his player's desires, especially with Saturday being the team's senior day.
"We spoke as a team, and we spoke with the team, and those guys really wanted to play today, and the conversation went back to the seniors, with today being senior day, they wanted to go play for them, and give them an opportunity to out and compete and play, so that was probably the biggest thing," Mortensen told reporters in the postgame press conference.
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Mortensen added that several players "understandably chose to sit out."
"We want to be very sympathetic to what everyone's going through, and make sure that everyone understood they had an opportunity to seek counseling, or anything that they needed or wanted," he said.
"We have a process and a routine that we got through in pre-game, and I think staying committed to that probably helped guys just staying focused on the job."
Mortensen took over as the team's head coach in October after the program fired former head coach Trent Dilfer following a loss to Florida Atlantic.
"The team has been through a lot over the last several months," Mortensen said.
UAB went on to lose the game 48-18 to fall to 3-8 on the season.
Two of the team's players were allegedly stabbed by another player at the team’s training early Saturday, a university official confirmed to Fox News Digital.
The names of the victims and the player in custody were not released.
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An online inmate inquiry from the Jefferson County Jail showed that Daniel Israel Mincey, 20, was arrested by the UAB Campus Police just after noon on Saturday and is facing charges of "aggravated assault — A to M — attempted murder." The university would not confirm whether Mincey was the player involved in the incident.
According to the UAB football roster, Mincey is a redshirt freshman who joined the team after one season at Kentucky.
"We’re grateful to report that two players injured in an incident this morning at the Football Operations Building are in stable condition," the university said. "Our thoughts are with them and their families as they recover. The suspect — another player — remains in custody, and an investigation is taking place."
The stabbing happened hours before UAB hosted South Florida at 3 p.m. ET. The spokesperson confirmed that the university elected to play.
"UAB’s top priority remains the safety and well-being of all of our students. Given patient privacy and the ongoing investigation, we have no further comment at this time," the university said.
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