Tag: Baltimore Ravens COVID-19

Report: Ravens shutting down training facility until at least Monday due to COVID-19 outbreak

With more and more positive COVID-19 tests, the Baltimore Ravens have closed the Under Armour Performance Center through at least Monday.

The Baltimore Ravens had four more players test positive for COVID-19 on Thursday, including quarterback Lamar Jackson. With the continued Ravens’ COVID-19 outbreak, Baltimore has shut down their Owings Mills training facility until Monday at the earliest, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

The move to close the Under Armour Performance Center seems like a no-brainer. Baltimore has not practiced this week, holding only a walkthrough on Monday when it was figured the team had the initial outbreak under control. Dr. Allen Sills, the NFL’s chief medical officer, echoed a similar sentiment, saying he believed “we’re very close to the end” of transmission on Wednesday. However, with players and/or staff members continuing to test positive for COVID-19 every day this week, that’s clearly not the case. Closing the facility will ensure players and staff members aren’t getting together in person, hopefully ending the continued spread of the coronavirus.

The NFL has postponed Baltimore’s Week 12 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers from Thanksgiving night to Sunday afternoon. If the Ravens’ training facility remains closed through Monday, that would mean Baltimore would not have practiced for this game, in addition to being short-handed due to the outbreak and injuries. That would also push into any preparation time for Week 13’s game against the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday night.

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4 more Ravens players tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday

The Baltimore Ravens had a continuation of their COVID-19 outbreak on Thursday, having four more players and a coach test positive.

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The Baltimore Ravens appear to have the worst outbreak of COVID-19 the NFL has seen this season. With 10 players already on the Reserve/COVID-19 list, Baltimore had yet another large number of players test positive on Thursday.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter and The Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec, the Ravens had four more players and another coach test positive for COVID-19. That would seemingly include quarterback Lamar Jackson, who was reported to have tested positive Thursday.

If four more players did indeed test positive and Jackson is among them, that would mean a minimum of 14 players will be on the Reserve/COVID-19 list. Those that test positive are held out for a minimum of 10 days, per the NFL’s protocols. Those that are labeled as a “close contact” are held out for a minimum of five days, barring any positive tests or symptoms appearing.

The NFL has already rescheduled Baltimore’s Week 12 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, moving it from Thursday night to Sunday afternoon. The Ravens disciplined a strength and conditioning coach for not wearing a mask or the tracking device, potentially kickstarting Baltimore’s COVID-19 outbreak.

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Report: Lamar Jackson tests positive for COVID-19

The Baltimore Ravens are still set to play the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday afternoon, for now. But they’ll have to do it without reigning MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Jackson tested positive for COVID-19 …

The Baltimore Ravens are still set to play the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday afternoon, for now. But they’ll have to do it without reigning MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Jackson tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday.

Without Jackson in the lineup, Baltimore will rely on the experience, arm, and legs of backup Robert Griffin III. Luckily for the Ravens, Griffin’s last start came in a Week 17 win over the Steelers last season, proving he’s certainly capable enough to pick up a vital victory.

This is a continuation of the COVID-19 outbreak Baltimore has been dealing with that has seen them place 10 players on the Reserve/COVID-19 list as well as having several staff members test positive as well. The outbreak forced the NFL to postpone the Ravens’ Thanksgiving matchup against the Steelers to Sunday instead. Though with more players continuing to test positive, it’s unclear if the league will have to postpone it further.

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Ravens have more positive COVID-19 tests Thursday

The Baltimore Ravens continue to deal with the COVID-19 outbreak, seeing more positive tests Thursday.

For the fourth-consecutive day, the Baltimore Ravens have had positive COVID-19 tests, though it’s unclear exactly how many right now. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, a coach tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday. However, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said there was at least one player and several staff members who tested positive Thursday.

This is a continuation of the outbreak that has had the Ravens place nine players on the Reserve/COVID-19 list. Baltimore has also seen their Week 12 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers postponed from Thanksgiving night until Sunday afternoon. Under the NFL’s protocols, any players that test positive for the coronavirus will have to miss a minimum of 10 days while those labeled as “close contact” have a minimum of a five-day wait until they can return.

The Ravens have disciplined a strength and conditioning coach for conduct related to the outbreak that included not wearing a mask or the tracker used for contact tracing.

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Ravens discipline coach for not reporting symptoms, consistently wearing a mask and tracker

The Baltimore Ravens have disciplined a coach for COVID-19 conduct that impacted players and staff members.

The Baltimore Ravens might be able to point the finger at one man for all their COVID-19 troubles this week. After the Ravens put three more players on the Reserve/COVID-19 list on Wednesday and saw their Week 12 game get postponed until Sunday, Baltimore announced they had disciplined a coach for conduct “that have affected players and staff.”

As it turns out, Per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the culprit was a strength and conditioning coach that failed to report his symptoms and wasn’t consistently wearing a mask or tracking device.

That would be about as egregious a failure to follow the NFL’s protocols as the league has seen this season, and it’s an issue that the NFL could look to discipline Baltimore over. Pelissero noted that by proactively disciplining the coach, the Ravens could either reduce or avoid potential punishment from the NFL over the matter. For breaking protocols earlier this season, the Tennessee Titans were fined $350,000 but did not have to forfeit any draft picks, per Erik Bacharach of the Tennessean.

Baltimore has placed a total of nine players on the Reserve/COVID-19 list thus far and has had several staff members also test positive.

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Ravens place Calais Campbell, Matt Skura, Patrick Mekari on Reserve/COVID-19 list

The Baltimore Ravens placed Calais Campbell, Matt Skura, and Patrick Mekari on the Reserve/COVID-19 list Wednesday.

As expected, the Baltimore Ravens are continuing to deal with a COVID-19 outbreak this week. Per the team’s Twitter account, Baltimore placed defensive end Calais Campbell, as well as centers Patrick Mekari and Matt Skura on the Reserve/COVID-19 list. Due to the Ravens’ continued outbreak, the NFL has pushed their Week 12 game with the Steelers back to Sunday. Though that takes away a prime time matchup on Thanksgiving, it ultimately allows Baltimore to continue testing and contact tracing.

The team’s report doesn’t note whether the players tested positive themselves or if they were considered close contacts. While that will determine if they have to miss a minimum of five days or 10 days, none will be eligible to play this week against the Pittsburgh Steelers regardless.

Those three losses loom large for the Ravens. Campbell has been an outstanding addition to this defense this season, shoring up the run and adding a far more consistent pass rush. However, due to injuries, this will be Campbell’s third-consecutive missed game this season. Skura had been demoted as the starting center but played last week in rotation at right guard. Replacing Skura at center last week was Mekari, meaning Baltimore’s already beat-up offensive line is taking further losses they can’t much afford right now.

With the addition of running backs J.K. Dobbins and Mark Ingram, as well as defensive lineman Brandon Williams, and outside linebacker Pernell McPhee, that means the Ravens will be missing several starters on both sides of the ball this week and potentially next week as well. If Baltimore wants to get back to the playoffs this season, that means they’re close to being in must-win territory at 6-4.

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Steelers players livid over Week 12 schedule change

Several Pittsburgh Steelers players were outraged the NFL rescheduled the Week 12 game vs. the Baltimore Ravens.

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The Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers will play on Sunday instead of Thanksgiving as initially planned. With the Ravens in the midst of a COVID-19 outbreak that has already put six players on the Reserve/COVID-19 list and with more expected to come today, the NFL made the wise decision to push the game back a few days so Baltimore and the league could better control things. Apparently, the Steelers took that as a personal affront.

Several Pittsburgh players took to Twitter to share their frustration as the news broke of the game being postponed. Most players seemed exasperated by the rescheduling, especially after the Steelers had a Week 4 game against the Tennessee Titans moved as well (adjusting Baltimore’s schedule too).

But not everyone took it as well as those players did. Several of the Steelers’ starters are apparently livid over the schedule change.

I’m not entirely sure why the players are that enraged by the schedule change. The game still happens in Week 12 and none of the players who tested positive will be eligible to play Sunday just like they wouldn’t on Thursday. The best-case scenario for Baltimore is that they’d get a few extra days of rest, though that would obviously extend to Pittsburgh as well. What it does do is allow the team to get a better hold on the outbreak so they don’t possibly spread it to the Steelers’ players and staff members, which seems like the ideal goal for everyone.

It would be fair to criticize the decision and the Ravens had they broken any protocols, but there has been no indication Baltimore has done that here. Everyone understood this scenario was a real possibility, and in this case, the NFL is putting the health and safety of its players, staff members, and officials in front of a Thanksgiving tradition. That’s something players should be applauding instead of whining about.

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Ravens have more positive COVID-19 tests, including Calais Campbell

The Baltimore Ravens have had more players test positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday, including Calais Campbell.

The Baltimore Ravens already have six players on the Reserve/COVID-19 list after an outbreak of the virus. However, as expected, more will be added to the list in the coming days as people continue to test positive and contact tracing is done.

After running backs J.K. Dobbins and Mark Ingram tested positive on Monday, the team has also placed Brandon Williams and Pernell McPhee on the Reserve/COVID-19 list. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and ESPN’s Dan Graziano, Matt Skura, Patrick Mekari, and Calais Campbell have also tested positive, as well as several coaches.

With the outbreak clearly not contained yet, that means the Ravens won’t be playing on Thanksgiving after all. The NFL has postponed the game until Sunday afternoon. Per the NFL’s protocols, any players that test positive today would be held out for a minimum of 10 days, meaning they would not only miss this week’s game but next week as well.

If Skura, Mekari, and Campbell have either tested positive or were tagged during contact tracing as a close contact, that would mean Baltimore will be without two defensive linemen, two running backs, a starting outside linebacker, and both its starting and backup center on Sunday against Pittsburgh.

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