The Baltimore Ravens were hit hard by the Coronavirus, with a multitude of players, coaches, and staff members having to go on the Reserve/COVID-19 list. It caused the team to have to play multiple games without some of their best players, including Lamar Jackson, J.K. Dobbins and others.
Another Baltimore player who caught the virus and had to miss games because of it was defensive lineman Calais Campbell. The veteran had mulled opting out of the 2020 season due to his asthma, but decided to play alongside his teammates.
When asked about how he feels now after having lingering issues with symptoms of COVID-19, Campbell said he feels better, but also made sure to say that sometimes it “comes and goes”.
“Yes, I think so. Sometimes, I feel like it kind of comes and goes in a sense, so I guess I really can’t be sure until we get into the thick of things. But I’ve been really good for the last couple months. I haven’t had any real issues, but it definitely lingered for a while. I still don’t wish that on anybody. It’s just such a tough thing to go through, just because you don’t really feel like yourself. Even when you are past the symptoms that everybody has, getting back into being a professional athlete, there’s a certain level of feeling you have when you’re just ready, and COVID-19 kind of made it a little harder to get to that good feeling. But I definitely feel a lot better now. I feel like I’m ready to go – go out there and dominate and have some fun – and I hope I stay that way.”
Hearing that Campbell feels good at the moment is a phenominal sign. From a football perspective, hopefully he is able to continue to compete at a high level, but the most important thing is the overall health of the former University of Miami Hurricane. Campbell isn’t the first athlete to say he’s felt the after effects of the Coronavirus, as Myles Garrett, Jayson Tatum and more have also spoken up about not feeling like themselves for a long time after the fact.
From Campbell’s comments, it seems like he’s ready to get out on the football field and compete with his teammates. When at full strength, he’s still one of the best interior defensive linemen in the NFL, so hopefully he’ll be able to have another dominant season while feeling completely healthy doing so.