Colorado coach Deion Sanders was to undergo a medical procedure later Tuesday with the hope of being back at practice the next day and on the sideline this weekend against Iowa State.
After the Buffaloes' Saturday night loss to TCU, Sanders said that he thought he was dealing with blood clots again.
He ended his weekly news conference with a medical update, saying, "I cannot wait to get past this hurdle." He added it's hereditary and "has nothing to do with me working at the level I'm trying to compete at."
The coach said he was in pain during a 35-21 loss at TCU last Saturday, alternating between sitting and limping along the sideline with his leg throbbing. He didn't wear a shoe on his left foot in the second half and after the game said he was "hurting like crazy."
"I'm going to be all right," said Sanders, whose Buffaloes (2-4, 0-3 Big 12) host No. 22 Iowa State (5-1, 2-1) on Saturday. "Prayerfully, I'll be right back tomorrow because I don't miss practice. I don't plan on doing such."
Sanders dealt with blood clot issues while at Jackson State in 2021, with doctors amputating two of his toes on his left foot. He also skipped a Pac-12 media day session in 2023 following a procedure to remove a blood clot from his right leg and another to straighten toes on his left foot.
On Tuesday, his good friend and longtime NFL cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones attended the media session as a show of support. Sanders appreciates all the texts and phone calls from people expressing their concern over his health. "I've got a lot of well-wishes, of people talking about: 'You need to slow down. You need to take a break,'" Sanders said. "There's nothing that I could've done to stop what's transpiring. Nothing that I could've taken or something that I'm just not abiding by. It is what it is."
Sanders, 58, spent time away from the team over the summer after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of bladder cancer. He revealed the details of his treatment, which involved doctors reconstructing a section of his intestine to function as a bladder. He frequently needs to use the restroom so the school introduced a portable sideline bathroom for him during games.
"I trust God with all my heart and all my soul and all my mind," Sanders said Tuesday. "I'm going to go in there (surgery), and I'm going to get some of the best sleep in the world for, I think, four hours, the surgery is going to be. "I've never been high a day in my life. I've never drank, smoked or anything. But when I get those surgeries, I am there on time."
Information from The Associated Press contributed to this report.