Detroit Lions’ wide receiver Kenny Golladay and tight end T.J. Hockenson both confirmed today via video conference that they indeed tested positive for COVID-19 at beginning of training camp.
Based on the length of time missed, this isn’t overly surprising news but they did have two different experiences dealing with the test results.
Golladay was flagged for a positive test on the first day of camp, July 29th, and remained out until August 5th. He acknowledged that he had “a few symptoms. Just like a fever, that’s it. Lasted like two days, nothing major.” And he made sure to reiterate that he currently was “100-percent and happy to be on the field right now, and that’s all that matters.”
Hockenson was also flagged on the 29th of July but he remained on the reserve/COVID-19 list until August 8th, despite being asymptomatic. He admitted he was caught off guard by the test results and tried to make the most of his alone time.
“Pretty lonely,” Hockenson said. “There wasn’t a whole lot going on. I, fortunately, didn’t have any symptoms. It was kind of a surprise to test positive for that. And then to spend a week away from the teammates was tough. But, it was a week for me to get mentally prepared for camp, and actually my father brought a bunch of weights up and I was able to do some things in the garage, while I was doing that.”
Hockenson would go on to describe the seriousness of testing positive and what he learned from it.
âI think itâs something that a lot of the community, people my age, donât take as seriously as they should,â Hockenson continued. âItâs one of those things that you need to do the right things, and you need to be quarantined if you have it, and all those steps that they give us. It was something that I learned, that I didnât want to give it to anybody. My teammates, my family. You just donât want to put anybody at risk, because you know how deadly it was no matter if I had symptoms or not.”
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