Tag: covid testing

NFL, NFLPA agree to extend daily COVID-19 testing, except on game day

The league announced Saturday it will continue COVID-19 health and safety protocols daily until further notice.

The NFL had to spring into action when the COVID-19 pandemic changed the sports landscape in March. With limited time to prepare, the league and the NFL Players Association managed to create and roll out a plan that worked. According to ESPN’s Kevin Seifert, as of Saturday morning, only six players remain on the league-wide COVID-19 list.

It was announced on Saturday that the health and safety protocols practiced during training camp will continue into the regular season until further notice.

The league and the NFLPA are in unison on extending daily COVID testing, except during game day, as reported by NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. Daily testing applies to Tier 1 and 2 individuals — including all players and coaches. Tier 3 individuals will continue to be tested weekly.

Pregame testing will take place the morning before (i.e., Saturday morning for Sunday games). Due to tests not being administered on game day, players will not be permitted at team facilities the day after a game unless medical attention is required or their team is on a short week.

A memo sent to teams on Saturday outlined testing requirements per category of individual.

The memo comes as the league is just five days away from kicking off its season.

Testing is not a subject to be taken lightly, and the league has examined protocols from every angle to ensure the safety of its players and staff.

“The reason that we’ve delayed on that is not procrastination. It’s that, as we’ve gone through our testing each week, we’ve learned some important lessons,” NFL chief medical officer Dr. Allen Sills told NFL Network this week. “We’ve tried to analyze our data and look and see what makes the most sense to balance getting everyone to game day safely and also the practical realities of travel.”

“We want to do everything we possibly can to mitigate any transmission of this virus within the team environment, and that includes on game day,” he said.

Though face masks are not required for players on the sidelines, it will be strongly recommended. The only states in which face coverings are necessary are in San Fransisco and Buffalo, where state and local governments mandate it.

While not required for players, Sills said that it’s essential for coaches and personnel to wear masks on the sidelines. “We continue to believe it’s perhaps the most critical element in reducing the risk of transmitting the virus from one person to another,” Sills said.

As travel introduces variables the league has not yet had to contend with, extensive protocols have been created that cover every aspect of travel from transportation to lodging. “We’ll be tracking that very carefully,” Sills shared. “If our teams attack [in-season protocols] with the same diligence and comprehensive approach they’ve done during training camp, I feel like we’ll be in good shape.”

So far, so good. Now comes the biggest test of all — 17 weeks of game action.

As training camp COVID testing expires Saturday, what’s next?

The NFL is expected to release its regular-season testing procedures and protocols soon.

The NFL comprehensive COVID-19 testing protocols that were rolled out in training camps this season were a success.

In the offseason, there were doubts from owners, general managers and coaches about the league’s ability to complete a full season. However, due to the strict adherence to social distancing and testing protocols, that outlook has changed.

“The feeling [among the league] is so markedly different from what it was, even right before training camp began, but certainly from the spring, about their ability to get through a full season,” said NFL.com columnist Judy Battista. “A season that probably will not have a great many interruptions because of the virus.”

Giants president John Mara, who was instrumental in the planning of this unprecedented season, said that he’s far more confident now. “If you had asked me back in March, I would’ve had serious doubts [about the ability to play a full season],” Mara said to media on Thursday.

There was a massive sigh of relief following the August false positives scare, but from it came a way to combat the issue should it re-occur during the season. There were only four total positive tests from August 12 to August 29.

In talking to coaches, players, and general managers, Battista said their confidence to be able to play a full season has been lifted.

Mara told Battista that a game might need postponed or moved around, but the overall feeling now is that those circumstances would be isolated and not a widespread shut down, as was feared months ago.

Not comfortable just yet

The league has not yet announced its plans for in-season testing protocols. The steps taken during training camp expire on Saturday. The expectation is that daily testing will continue, according to Battista, per NFL chief medical officer Dr. Allen Sills. Protocols have worked well and given the league confidence and a sense of security.

“It’s still possible that, at some point, they would consider going to three days a week testing if things are looking good,” a general manager told Battista.

With kickoff now just six days out, Battista believes the NFL will release its regular-season plan within the next 24 hours.

Suspended Cowboys DE Randy Gregory conditionally reinstated by NFL

Gregory, who’s been suspended six times by the Cowboys, hasn’t played since 2018 an must pass a COVID-19 test before he can join practices.

As expected, Dallas Cowboys defensive end Randy Gregory will return to the team.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones had hoped this would happen and now it’s happening — but there are conditions for Gregory to get back on the field.

Next Monday, he’ll be tested for COVID-19 in the Cowboys’ practice facility. If he’s negative and cleared, he can then participate in meetings.

Per the NFL’s official statement: “Gregory may report to the team on Monday, September 7 for testing and may participate in conditioning activities, individual workouts and meetings. He may begin practicing with the team the week of October 5. He will be eligible to participate in games following the team’s Week 6 game on October 19.”

Gregory, 27, is coming off his fourth suspension for violation of the NFL’s substances of abuse policy, and he has failed or missed at least six tests with the Cowboys. He has played in 28 games in five seasons with the Cowboys. In 2018, he played 14 games and recorded six sacks.

Despite false positive scare, NFL COVID testing numbers bring excellent news

Sunday’s news of a rash of false positive COVID tests was less than ideal, but the NFL’s actual testing numbers are much more encouraging.

As the NFL moves closer to balancing the logistics of a regular season with a pandemic overshadowing everything, there is good news to report. Per a Monday release from the NFL:

The National Football League today announced the COVID-19 monitoring testing results for August 12 – August 20.During this period, players and Tier 1 and 2 personnel were tested daily. Tier 3 individuals were tested weekly. Individuals who test positive for COVID-19 follow the joint NFL-NFLPA Treatment Protocol. They are immediately isolated, not permitted to travel with the team, access club facilities, or have direct contact with players or personnel. Club medical staff are in regular communication with individuals who test positive to monitor symptoms.

Monitoring Testing results for August 12 – August 20:   

  • ​58,397 tests were administered to 8,573 players and personnel.
  • 23,260 tests were administered to players; 35,137 tests were administered to personnel.

There were zero positive tests among players and six new confirmed positives among other personnel. 

As Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network pointed out Monday afternoon, the positive test rate when players and personnel reported to their respective training camps was 1.7% overall. In the next phase of testing, that number dropped to 0.46%. And now, counting all new tests, the league is at 0.01%. It’s a remarkable endorsement of the league’s protocols. And the zero positive tests among players is obviously encouraging.

This came one day after the league had to release a different statement — one that the league was much less happy to release.

Several NFL teams have postponed activities after it COVID tests from one lab, based in New Jersey, revealed a rash of positive tests.

Saturday’s daily COVID testing returned several positives tests from each of the clubs serviced by the same laboratory in New Jersey. We are working with our testing partner, BioReference, to investigate these results, while the clubs work to confirm or rule out the positive tests.  Clubs are taking immediate precautionary measures as outlined in the NFL-NFLPA’s health and safety protocols to include contact tracing, isolation of individuals and temporarily adjusting the schedule, where appropriate.  The other laboratories used for NFL testing have not had similar results.

As it turned out, there were 77 false positives from one lab in New Jersey, and all 77 turned out to be negative.

BioReference Executive Chairman Dr. Jon Cohen had this to say about that.

“On August 22, BioReference Laboratories reported an elevated number of positive COVID-19 PCR test results for NFL players and personnel at multiple clubs. The NFL immediately took necessary actions to ensure the safety of the players and personnel. Our investigation indicated that these were most likely false positive results, caused by an isolated contamination during test preparation in the New Jersey laboratory. Reagents, analyzers, and staff were all ruled out as possible causes and subsequent testing has indicated that the issue has been resolved. All individuals impacted have been confirmed negative and informed.”

Maybe the lab was understaffed?

Hopefully, this false alarm will solve the false positive problem that could turn into a logistical nightmare if it were to happen, say, the day before a game… but the better news here is that the NFL’s focus on daily testing and adherence to overall protocol has produced a positive (as opposed to false positive) result.

We can only hope that continues when the games start and players are bumping into each other at the normal rate.

Big Ten football players publish COVID-19 proposal in letter to the conference, NCAA

The letter to the NCAA and the Big Ten is written on behalf of more than 1,000 football players

More than 1,000 Big Ten football players have published a letter to the conference and the NCAA with proposals to protect the well-being of all athletes in the conference.

Published in the Player’s Tribune the letter is written by College Athlete Unity (CAU) on behalf of more than 1,000 football players in the conference. The players cite as a complaint the NCAA’s “laissez-faire approach,” in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, opting to let the schools and conferences handle everything on their own. The players say NCAA leadership has not requested their input, which inspired the need for the letter and proposals.

Some of the highlight proposals are:

  • Third-party, approved by players, to handle all aspects of COVID-19 testing.
  • Severe penalties for non-compliance
  • Social distancing requirements and mandatory mask-wearing in and around athletic facilities by coaches, staff, players, vendors, press, and visitors
  • Minimum cleaning and sanitation protocols for all uniforms, equipment, and athletic facilities, including visitor locker rooms
  • Contact-tracing protocols for anyone who comes into contact with college athletes and team personnel who test positive
  • Testing of everyone who comes into contact with college athletes, including coaches, trainers, medical staff, nutrition staff, referees, media, etc.
  • In-season testing three days a week.
  • Guarantee of scholarships for players opting out due to COVID-19.
  • Redshirts for players unable to play more than 40% of their season due to COVID-19.
  • Coverage for all out-of-pocket medical expenses related to COVID-19 (both short-term and long-term) incurred by active college athletes

There are more proposals from the players, which you can read on the Player’s Tribune.

On Wednesday the Big Ten released its modified ten-game conference-only football schedule.

A large group of players from the PAC-12 made similar demands of their conference and the NCAA earlier in the week.

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Big Ten releases updated football schedule, MSU now plays Michigan on the road

The Big Ten season is still slated to kick off the week of September 3.

If football is going to happen in the Big Ten this fall, it will be under a modified schedule.

The conference has released its new ten-game conference-only schedule to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic and there are a handful of notable changes. However the season will start as planned the week of September 3.

For Michigan State fans the biggest change is the flipping of locations for the Michigan and Indiana games. Michigan State will now travel to Ann Arbor and host Indiana, same as the 2019 season. MSU also adds an end-of-season game on the road against Nebraska. The Spartans lost to the Cornhuskers in Lincoln in 2018.

MSU will now open the season hosting Minnesota instead of previously scheduled opponent Northwestern. That game has now moved to week three. Every Big Ten team has two scheduled bye weeks and an open week at the end of the season to help with flexibility int he event of postponements or rescheduling.

Currently two Big Ten teams, Rutgers and Michigan State, are under a team-wide quarantine after COVID-19 outbreaks within the program. MSU is scheduled to end quarantine Wednesday, while Rutgers recently announced its number of cases on the team had almost doubled from 15 to 28. Northwestern also stopped workouts this week due to a positive test within their ranks.

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Report: Big Ten to release ten-game football schedule on Tuesday

The conference is expected to release an update 10-game conference-only schedule.

According to a report from AI’com’s John Talty the Big Ten is going to release an updated 2020 football schedule on Tuesday.

The Big Ten had previously announced the conference would move all fall sports–including football–to a ten-game conference-only schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently Big Ten teams have just nine games on their schedule. There is no word yet on how the conference will adjust the schedule. Expectation is a priority will be placed on division and rivalry games being played early in the season.

The ACC recently did the same as the Big Ten, but eliminated divisions for the season while adding Notre Dame to the conference for one year.

Thus far the PAC-12 and SEC have joined the Big Ten and ACC in eliminating non-conference games. The Big 12 is the only power five conference to not eliminate any potential football opponents.

On Monday afternoon Michigan State’s current week one opponent Northwestern announced they would be shutting down football workouts due to a positive COVID test. MSU’s football team is currently nearing the end of a 14-day quarantine resulting from a small outbreak amongst the team. That quarantine is scheduled to run through August 4.

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Michigan State alums Josiah Scott, Tyler Higby put on reserve/COVID lists

Being on the list doesn’t automatically mean a player has tested positive for COVID-19.

As the NFL season kicks into gear, a number of players are ending up on the league’s reserve/COVID list.

Two Michigan State alums–rookies Josiah Scott and Tyler Higby–found their way onto the list as rookies start reporting to camp. Being placed on the list doesn’t mean a person has tested positive for COVID-19, although that can be the case. It also may mean that the player has been in close contact with someone who has tested positive.

Scott took to Twitter to clear the air a bit on his name being on the list, saying that his first test was a positive and that subsequent follow-up tests have produced negative results.

More than 100 NFL players have tested positive for COVID-19 during the NFL offseason, including former Michigan State lineman Brian Allen.

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No Notre Dame players test positive for COVID-19 this week

The latest round of COVID-19 testing at Notre Dame is complete with no positive tests to report. Read more right here.

Late in June we saw every Notre Dame football player and coach get tested for COVID-19 upon their arrival back to campus with only one positive test being found.  Two weeks later that number has in fact decreased to zero.

103 football student-athletes received tests on July 1 with no positive tests coming back.  Furthermore, no tests came back with positive results for the antibodies, either, and the one player who previously tested positive has recovered and returned to voluntary workouts.

This is what I’m most interested in not so much at Notre Dame since there was only one positive test to start with, but at other colleges that have seen significantly more positive tests.

Two weeks later Notre Dame has a roster full of clean health in regards to COVID-19.  Will the numbers dip at places like Clemson, Alabama or LSU where positive tests have been a major issue to date?

The answer to that question probably gives you your best information as to if we’ll see college football this fall or not.

Here’s to hoping those numbers drop on college campuses nationwide, and everywhere else not on a college campus for that matter, as well.

Coronavirus in College Football Tracker – June 22

College football players are back on campuses nationwide. Which schools are having an uptick in coronavirus cases? Follow along here.

As we continue to get closer to the scheduled start of college football, more news comes out seemingly daily about different college football teams getting hit by coronavirus.  We’ve decided to try and make it as easy as possible for everyone by starting a tracker of what teams are publicly acknowledging issues they have had.

Earlier in the week we saw the University of Texas football team announce that 13 players tested positive.  This comes after the University of Houston suspended voluntary workouts just over a week ago because of six athletes testing positive for coronavirus.

The last couple of days saw more schools come forward with announced cases of coronavirus, including:

Clemson had 28 student-athletes test positive for coronavirus this week, 23 of which play football.

At least 30 players at LSU are being quarantined due to a COVID-19 outbreak.  There is no word on how many of those players tested positive or how many are believed to have been exposed to the virus.

Kansas State has shut down football workouts for two weeks after 14 of the 130 student-athletes they’ve tested came back with positive tests.

In-state rivals Alabama and Auburn have both dealt with positive cases in the last week.

Also, recently two players at South Florida tested positive while a second player at West Virginia tested positive on Saturday.

We’ll do our best to keep you up to speed on the outbreaks and if other schools have to suspend workouts like Kansas State and Houston have now had to.

Let’s hope first that those who have the virus recover quickly and don’t suffer any lasting effects.  On top of that, let’s also hope that it’s a rough patch early on after reporting back to campus and that these outbreaks go down significantly in a matter of days, and not just because of less tests being administered.