Earlier today, we learned that Las Vegas Raiders DE Clelin Ferrell had tested positive for COVID-19. According to a new report from NFL Network reporters Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero, as a result of that positive test, most of the Raiders starting defense will be placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list as high-risk close contacts to Ferrell.
Most, if not all of the defenders should be eligible to play on Sunday against the Chiefs, so long as they continue to test negative for COVID-19. Some players will be eligible to return to practice on Saturday, while others won’t be eligible to return until Sunday according to the report. That means that several players might be forced to play without any practice this week.
This is wild: Nearly the entire #Raiders starting defense is going on the COVID-19 list because of high-risk close contacts, but all are eligible to play in the game if they continue to test negatively, sources tell me and @TomPelissero.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 18, 2020
Jon Gruden was on a conference call with Chiefs media members when this story broke and here was his response according to KC Star reporter Sam McDowell:
“I don’t know about the whole defense, but I’m not going to really get into what list anybody’s on. We practiced today. We’ll be ready for the game on Sunday.”
Both the Chiefs and the Raiders are dealing with challenges related to the virus right now. The Chiefs placed WR Mecole Hardman on the reserve/COVID-19 list last week. They placed three offensive linemen, including starters Mitchell Schwartz and Eric Fisher, on the list on Monday.
The two teams are set to play on “Sunday Night Football” in Week 11 and so far the game is set to go on as scheduled.
We’ll update you here with the list of Raiders placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list when the transaction report is released later today.
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