Rosters across the NFL are bring trimmed little by little as the regular season quickly approaches. But in Dallas, a different list of players is simultaneously growing with every day. Head coach Mike McCarthy began his Wednesday press conference with a stark announcement.
“We have two players that will be on [the] COVID testing positive list today,” McCarthy told reporters. “[Damontae] Kazee has tested positive, and Connor Williams.”
Kazee was instructed to stay away from the team facility on Tuesday; now the safety has tested positive for the virus. He will officially be placed on the Cowboys’ COVID/Reserve list, joining defensive tackle Carlos Watkins, wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, and fellow safeties Malik Hooker and Israel Mukuamu.
Offensive lineman Connor Williams also goes on the list, having newly tested positive for COVID-19. Of the six players, four are positive, as is defensive coordinator Dan Quinn.
McCarthy admitted that he doesn’t know if any of the affected personnel will be available in time for the Cowboys’ final preseason game against Jacksonville, scheduled for Sunday.
“I’m not sure. Everybody’s status is different based on the level of testing,” McCarthy said. “I don’t have timelines for each individual.”
As of now, the coach is preparing for the game despite the troubling numbers, and he knows of no plan to cancel or postpone the exhibition contest.
“We’re planning on playing Sunday.”
McCarthy and the Cowboys staff will attempt to conduct business as usual this week, using The Star’s massive facilities to full advantage to help limit large groups as the team continues to identify at-risk individuals.
“We’re in the contact tracing mode, so we’re working through that,” he explained. “Like anything, that’s been a part of this process. We take it very serious, so we’re looking at alterations to our schedules and making sure our meeting places are the best they can be. We will start to alter our schedule starting tomorrow.”
McCarthy was reluctant, though, to go on record with any genuine optimism that this COVID-19 outbreak would suddenly be fully behind the team- or even notably better- by the season opener on September 9th.
“I don’t know what ‘better’ means,” the coach said. “I mean, this is the climate that we’re in. The great thing is we have experience at it. Clearly, when the adjustments are made throughout the football operations, we have clear options. We have plans that have been used. We move from one segment of normality to half-virtual, half-working inside based on what we’re trying to get done. We’re prepared to handle this.”
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