After coming into close contact with a person who tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday, Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford was moved to isolation for safety purposes.
His daily tests all came back negative, and after he was removed from the reserve/COVID-19 list yesterday, he chartered a private flight to Minnesota for this week’s game against the Vikings. As long as yesterday’s test comes back negative today, he will be cleared to play.
As a 12-year veteran, Stafford likely doesn’t need much practice time to be ready for a game, especially one against an opponent he faces twice a season. But throughout the week, Stafford stayed involved virtually with the team, not only participating in every team/position group meeting but he was also able to get virtual reps during live practices.
According to a report by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelliserro, the Lions combined some of their advanced football technologies with virtual technologies to keep Stafford involved in practice as it was happening.
A few years back, the Lions introduced a new system that can track practice reps and display them on large video boards as they happen. In training camp, we have seen instances where position groups run through drills, then shift over to the boards to review with coaches what just happened, allowing them to make immediate corrections during practices.
The Lions hooked Stafford up with this video feed of live practice, then connected his Zoom feed up to their audio system, and allowed him to talk to the team in real-time.
“Still quarantined and watching via Zoom,” NFL Network said, “Stafford called out the protections and checks against whatever defense was dialed up, and the rest of the offense communicated the call as if Stafford were in the indoor practice facility with them.”
Stafford may not have physically been taking reps, but the Lions did just about everything in their power to keep him involved and prepared for the Vikings.