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Bears center Cody Whitehair tests positive for COVID-19

The Chicago Bears have an official COVID-19 outbreak on their hands.

The Chicago Bears have an official COVID-19 outbreak on their hands, as a second offensive lineman has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

Whitehair joins reserve tackle Jason Spriggs in the COVID-19 protocol and right guard Germain Ifedi is quarantining because of his close contact with Spriggs, and, presumably, Whitehair.

The Bears’ offensive line has come under harsh criticism because of their poor play in 2020, and it might get a lot worse.

Whitehair was already expected to miss Sunday’s game against the Tennessee Titans with a calf injury and starting right tackle Bobby Massie is sidelined with a knee injury. Spriggs, his top reserve, is out, and there’s still doubt whether Ifedi will be able to play.

With Whitehair being the second confirmed COVID-19 case on the offensive line, the concerns are only just beginning.

Charles Leno, Arlington Hambright, Alex Bars, Rashaad Coward and Lachavious Simmons appear destined for the starting lineup on Sunday, assuming there are no further outbreaks and, at this point, that there’s even a game.

According to the Chicago Tribune’s Brad Biggs, the Bears might be adding more names to the COVID-19 list today.

Stay tuned.

Dolphins announce firing of three assistants on Black Monday

Expect Brian Flores to act swiftly in the coming weeks to name replacements to carry out his vision moving forward.

Ending the season on a high note had Miami fans feeling good as the team transitioned into the off-season. Coach Flores, however, wasn’t satisfied with his Dolphins’ five-win season, no matter how hard fought they were.

News broke today that the Dolphins will move into phase two of the rebuild without offensive coordinator Chad O’Shea, offensive line coach Dave DeGuglielmo, and safeties coach Tony Oden.

Moving on from Tony Oden is perhaps the least surprising of the moves; he was one of the few holdovers from the Adam Gase staff. Brian Flores spent four seasons as a safeties coach in New England from 2012-2015 as well as being a defensive-minded coach by trade, so perhaps he holds the post to a standard that he decided was not met by the former assistant.

Dave DeGuglielmo was initially brought in as a consultant to work alongside the short-lived Miami offensive line coach Pat Flaherty before replacing Flaherty outright in July. The offensive line was an endless carousel of moving parts during the 2019 season, and Ryan Fitzpatrick was hit an absurd 152 times-by far the most in the league.

Still, “Gugs” has history with Brian Flores, and much of the offensive line struggles seemed to be personnel-related, at least from the outside looking in. It’s worth noting DeGuglielmo has hopped around the league a lot in his career; he has had one-year stints with multiple teams dating back to 2015 when he was let go by New England.

Chad O’Shea is the most peculiar firing of the bunch. He and Flores have coached together since the 2009 when O’shea joined the Patriots’ staff from the Vikings. The offense was handcuffed all season by an inept offensive line and run game and ended the season with the 27th ranked offense. Ironically enough, the mark was better than the previous two years under Adam Gase despite ‘lesser’ talent.

As speculation swirls as to who will replace these posts in year two, keep an eye on in-house names — such as QB coach Jerry Schuplinski or Jim Caldwell, who was absent during the entire 2019 season on a leave of absence as he dealt with health problems. Rumor has it he’d love to get back on the sidelines.

Expect Brian Flores to act swiftly in the coming weeks to name replacements to carry out his vision moving forward.

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