After Steelers tight end Vance McDonald tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday, Pittsburgh used an abundance of caution and placed four other players on the reserve/COVID-19 list on Tuesday.
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin spoke at length about his team’s situation in his weekly press conference on Tuesday.
Here’s a rundown of action the Steelers are have taken and are taking to limit potential virus spread and exposure, according to Tomlin:
- Masks are worn when traveling 100 percent of the time.
- Ben Roethlisberger, linebacker Vince Williams, running back Jaylen Samuels and offensive lineman Jerald Hawkins will work remotely this week. As long as they continue to test negative, as Roethlisberger has once, the four will practice on Saturday and play Sunday.
- Players will only be at the facility for walk-throughs and practices. All meetings will be conducted virtually.
- Weight training will be done rotationally.
- Training room schedule will also be rotational. Should Roethlisberger need treatment for his knee injuries, he’ll get it.
- The Steelers “speed dial New York often” to keep on top of all things regarding protocol, testing, and when it’s safe for once positive players to return.
- Contract tracing devices track the extent of contact and close contact. When someone tests positive, NFL officials use the data to help determine a “level of concern regarding the potential exposure of people.” Said officials are in charge of putting players and personnel into categories or placing on reserve/COVID-19 list.
Tomlin DOES. NOT. CARE. about the challenges that come with working remotely. “We’ve had a lot of practice here in 2020 in installing and giving information and receiving information remotely. We’ve done this with the entire playbook multiple times already in this process. We have no reservations about the remote meetings this week.”
Tomlin added that he and the Steelers have “a great deal of confidence in the protocol, our participation in it, its effectiveness.”
Let’s hope there are no more positives and that their participation in protocol leads to a healthy team taking the field on Sunday.
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