The bye week came at a good time for the Kansas City Chiefs.
According to a new report from NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the Chiefs’ strength and conditioning coach, Barry Rubin, has tested positive for COVID-19. Kansas City hasn’t had players in the facility since their Week 17 game against the Los Angeles Chargers, so there doesn’t seem to be much risk for exposure with the players. That said, contact tracing is underway according to Pelissero’s report.
Earlier this season, the Chiefs had an unnamed assistant coach on the strength and conditioning staff test positive for COVID-19. That was obviously a different scenario, but it should have the team better-prepared to handle this type of incident.
#Chiefs strength and conditioning coach Barry Rubin tested positive for COVID-19, per sources.
Contact tracing is underway. No players in the facility the past two days, which helps, and not due back until Thursday. Good time for a bye.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) January 5, 2021
The good news here is that Kansas City is on its bye week ahead of the divisional round of the playoffs. The team doesn’t return to practice until Thursday of this week, so that’ll be more than adequate time to get things sorted out if additional positive tests do sprout up as a result of Rubin’s test.
With cases on the rise across communities, it’s to be expected that positive cases will pop up during the course of the playoffs. The trick is ensuring that this team doesn’t find itself in a situation like what the Cleveland Browns are currently dealing with.
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