Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
American pole vaulter Sam Kendricks, who is the reigning world champion, tested positive for COVID-19 and is out of the Tokyo Olympics.
American pole vaulter Sam Kendricks, who is the reigning world champion, tested positive for COVID-19 and is out of the Tokyo Olympics.
The COVID-19 protocols were recently updated and it’ll take more time for Bell to join the team.
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The Kansas City Chiefs officially agreed to terms with free agent RB Le’Veon Bell on Thursday. The move sent shockwaves throughout the NFL world as the reigning Super Bowl champions added yet another weapon to their offense. The impact of Bell won’t immediately be felt by the Chiefs, however.
The recent outbreak of COVID-19 with the Tennessee Titans saw the NFL adjust their policies and protocols as it relates to new players and COVID-19 testing. Beforehand, players had to pass two COVID-19 tests and take a third point of care test when they arrive at the facility for practice. Now, the rules will require Bell to sit out longer and have more negative COVID-19 tests.
ESPN’s Adam Teicher shared the details of how the new protocols work.
FYI, Bell can't according to NFL protocols enter their facility or start to practice until he tests negative for 5 straight days and then tests negative on the 6th day with a point of contact test. So he won't practice for about a week at best.
— Adam Teicher (@adamteicher) October 15, 2020
Now, Bell must have negative tests for five consecutive days and take a point of care test on the sixth day and test negative before practicing. That means the earliest that Bell could possibly practice for the Chiefs is Wednesday, Oct. 21st. That’d be the teams’ first practice as they prepare for Week 7 against the Denver Broncos. You can expect that to be the first game that Bell plays in with Kansas City, in fact, he probably won’t even travel with the team to Buffalo in Week 6.
Don’t expect Bell to get a full workload in Denver even if he gets a full week of practice. Remember, Andy Reid has a complex offense and it’ll take him some time to fully grasp the playbook. Bell will likely get up to speed just in time to face the team that just made him a free agent. The New York Jets come to Arrowhead Stadium in Week 8. Bell will have a bit of a score to settle against his former HC, Adam Gase, assuming Gase even lasts that long. It’s setting up to be a moment of poetic justice for Bell as he arrives with his new team.
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It appears the demand for college football in 2020 has become too great.
It appears the demand for college football in 2020 has become too great. On Thursday, the Pac-12 announced it will play a seven-game conference schedule beginning Nov. 6. Soon after, the Mountain West announced a eight-game season that will begin the weekend of Oct. 24. That leaves the Mid-American Conference as the only Football Bowl Subdivision conference without a season, but a vote on what could be a six-game season is expected Friday.
All of that talk about keeping college football players safe during the COVID-19 pandemic officially was for naught. The conferences can discussing daily testing all they want, but it doesn’t change the fact that they’re going back on their word and have decided to chase the dollars after all. Pressure from players, parents and others didn’t help, but the conferences couldn’t or wouldn’t stand their ground. Any compassion and goodwill they’ve gained over the past couple of months is gone, and if you haven’t figured it out by now, they never had souls.
The Tigers will have their last scrimmage of fall camp on Saturday.
Kickoff of the 2020 Auburn football season is nine days away and some great news just came out of fall camp.
On Friday, Gus Malzahn announced that there have been no new positive COVID-19 tests this week for the Tigers and that no player has had to sit out due to contact tracing.
“We didn’t have any positive tests this week, which was great,” Malzahn said.
The Tigers are holding their last scrimmage of fall camp on Saturday and eight players will have to sit out but all are expected to be back on Tuesday as Malzahn and the team starts focusing on Kentucky.
Auburn hosts the Wildcats on Saturday, Sept. 26 at 11 a.m. CT in Jordan-Hare Stadium.
Saturday’s Big 12 morning rush covers Oklahoma’s near cancellation, a huge step in coronavirus testing, and the loss of CDC’s quarantine hobby.
The day is finally here! Big 12 football is back with three teams scheduled to kick off at 11 a.m. Texas’ season will get underway at 7 p.m. on Longhorn Network against UTEP.
Saturday’s Big 12 morning rush covers Oklahoma’s near cancellation, a huge step in COVID-19 testing, and the loss of Chris Del Conte’s quarantine hobby.
Oklahoma is set to host Missouri State tonight at 6 p.m. on pay-per-view. According to SoonersWire, the game was in “serious jeopardy” due to COVID-19 complications.
Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley has decided not to release testing data, stating he didn’t want to give his team a ‘competitive disadvantage’ by the opponent knowing how many players may be out. Missouri State has been releasing data whenever asked, and on Friday, all 72 players who traveled to play Oklahoma had tested negative.
Which, according to Missouri State, can’t be said for the Sooners.
“Oklahoma cannot say the same thing,” said Missouri State president Clif Smart during a board of governor’s meeting. “The game was in serious jeopardy until we got final test results (Friday) morning and I better not say anything else because I don’t know who’s listening.”
The Big 12 took a big step on Friday morning, beginning a partnership with Virtual Care for Families. Now, players, coaches, and staff will be able to be tested and get results within 15 minutes.
The Big 12 announced an antigen testing partnership with Virtual Care for Families. The testing program will utilize Quidel Rapid Antigen tests which allows for 15-minute results and batch testing capabilities.
➡️ https://t.co/Mw99k64d2D pic.twitter.com/xvl4O3erTx
— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) September 11, 2020
Since the beginning of quarantine, Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte has been growing a beard. Six months later, Del Conte shaved for the Longhorns’ soccer matchup against Kansas. It was a good run!
The CV19 Beard Odyssey started at the Big 12 Basketball Championship and ends today as we play our first soccer match tonight against Kansas #mybrideispumped 👊🏽🤘🏽 pic.twitter.com/XT1jRloqUy
— Chris Del Conte (@_delconte) September 11, 2020
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The Seattle Seahawks are hosting two former teammates for visits on Wednesday, center Justin Britt and wide receiver Paul Richardson.
The Seattle Seahawks are continuing to scour the league’s remaining, available players to help bolster the roster ahead of the 2020 regular season.
On Wednesday the team hosted a couple of familiar faces – former Seahawks center Justin Britt and former Seattle wide receiver, Paul Richardson.
Both visits were listed on the NFL’s official transaction wire.
The potential return of Britt seems intriguing due to the fact the Seahawks have been struggling to find a legit, starting center following his release earlier in the year.
Britt finished last season on the Seahawks injured reserve after tearing his ACL Week 8.
Richardson is reportedly undergoing COVID-19 testing at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center and could sign with Seattle as soon as this week.
The Seahawks have a rest day after their mock game and return to duty on Friday.
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The Auburn coach spoke on Saturday about the continual testing happening in the program.
With college football just more than a month away now, it will be critical that football programs are able to stay clear of COVID-19 positive tests. On Saturday, Auburn coach Gus Malzahn gave a good update on testing results on the Plains.
“I am going to give an update each week,” Malzahn said. “I told you we tested everybody week before last and had zero positives. We tested last Sunday and had zero positives for the second week in a row. We are very encouraged by that. We had four games with COVID-related issues that did not practice this week. They’ll be back and ready to go next week.
“We are going to be very transparent. We’ll keep updated from week to week. We are hoping the other programs do the same thing. Overall, it was really good to be out there on our game field with our players. I liked the way they responded.”
The Tigers first saw positive results in June when players were allowed to return to campus for voluntary workouts. With classes back in session and students returning in full force, the danger of the virus spreading is at an all-time high. Malzahn recognizes the importance of continual testing.
“About four weeks ago we had a pretty good rash of positives,” he said. “We decided to pump the breaks and kind of took off four or five days to kind of get that under control. That’s been about four weeks ago. Since then, our guys have done a super job. I think we are in a good spot now, but we aren’t taking anything for granted. It’s just new.
“For us to be successful and have a chance to play, there are going to be some sacrifices that our players, our coaches and everybody in our program is going to have to make. The last two weeks, we’ve done that and I’m real proud of them. We’ll have to continue to do that now that the students are back.”
Seattle’s newest cornerback, Quinton Dunbar, has some catching up to do in Seahawks training camp now that he’s off the NFL’s exempt list.
Seattle Seahawks cornerback Quinton Dunbar missed valuable time with his teammates as he waited on the NFL’s exempt list after his arrest for armed robbery earlier in May. Once the prosecutor declined to file charges, Dunbar was removed from the list and could resume team activities.
Dunbar can start practicing with his teammates as soon as Friday after he completes his COVID-19 testing and passes his physical at the VMAC.
Coach Pete Carroll is excited to see what Dunbar can bring to the field.
“He’s a good football player,” Carroll said Wednesday after practice. “He’s a playmaking guy, very creative, really good consistency over his years, he’s good size, really good tackler – I think he didn’t miss a tackle last year or something crazy like that. So he just adds to the competition, should make us better. He’s going to put the pressure on our guys to step up once he gets going.”
But Dunbar will need to catch up quickly after sitting out the first two weeks of camp.
“He’s a ways behind right now because he’s missing this time, and we need to make sure he’s in good shape, get him started well, but very competitive player,” Carroll continued. “We’re just trying to get a little bit better at a lot of places, and he might help us do that.”
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Seattle Seahawks cornerback Quinton Dunbar could take his physical and practice with his teammates as soon as Friday.
Seattle Seahawks cornerback Quinton Dunbar has had quite the week.
First, the Broward County Prosecutor declined to file armed robbery charges against him for lack of evidence. Second, he was removed from the NFL’s Commissioner Exempt List and allowed to return to Renton to join his teammates at training camp.
But before Dunbar can attend practice, he must complete the mandatory COVID-19 testing, with three negative tests over a four-day period. Next, Dunbar will need to pass his physical.
Coach Pete Carroll believes that could happen as soon as Friday.
“He’s here, he’s in town already, going through the protocol,” Carroll told reporters Wednesday after practice. “I think his day is Friday – the first day he can really be here. Until then, he’s got to log the days and the testing and all that. Get his physical done – I think his physical is on Friday. That’s a marker. Once you get to that day, you are ready to re-enter.”
Dunbar could be re-entering just in time to see some action on the field before the Seahawks take a break on Saturday.
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What I’m Hearing: Just hours before Opening Day, Nationals superstar Juan Soto tested positive for COVID-19. Any excitement related to baseball’s return was met with the harsh reality of the pandemic, says Gabe Lacques.
What I’m Hearing: Just hours before Opening Day, Nationals superstar Juan Soto tested positive for COVID-19. Any excitement related to baseball’s return was met with the harsh reality of the pandemic, says Gabe Lacques.
