Just hours after the NFL and NFLPA announced they would be reviewing five Raiders players to see if they would be deemed ‘high-risk’ for COVID-19 after contact with right tackle Trent Brown, they have come to their conclusion.
Those players are left tackle Kolton Miller, guard Denzelle Good, center Rodney Hudson, right guard Gabe Jackson, and safety Johnathan Abram.
All have received the high-risk label which means they will join Brown on the reserve/COVID-19 list, putting them in quarantine for at least five days, starting Tuesday. After which they will re-test. That day would be Sunday, which is a pretty tight schedule.
…also means less time to prep for #Buccaneers game, which was moved up from 5 pm to 1 pm PT. Plus, Raiders only have 5 other O-linemen on 53-man roster and two others on practice squad. But teams have to suit up at least 8 OL on gamedays. And simply (more)…
— Paul Gutierrez (@PGutierrezESPN) October 22, 2020
NFL Network first on players going to COVID list.
— Paul Gutierrez (@PGutierrezESPN) October 22, 2020
As ESPN’s Paul Gutierrez notes, this puts the Raiders in a precarious position. Not only does it mean they will be without their starting offensive line throughout the week, but that many offensive linemen out on short notice is untenable.
The game against the Buccaneers has been moved from its original NBC Sunday Night Football primetime slot to 1:05pm on FOX, making for an easier move to Monday or Tuesday if need be. And with no way for the team to know whether they will even have enough linemen on the roster to play the game until Sunday morning, a re-schedule seems almost inevitable.