Tag: Dez Bryant

Ravens activate WR Dez Bryant, CB Terrell Bonds from Reserve/COVID-19 list

The Ravens got WR Dez Bryant back from the Reserve/COVID-19 list after quite the interesting last few days of positive and negative tests.

If you’ve been following Dez Bryant’s saga for the last two weeks, you probably have a case of mental whiplash. But after just five days on the Reserve/COVID-19 list, Bryant is headed back to the 53-man roster, according to the team’s Twitter account. Bryant is joined by cornerback Terrell Bonds, who also rejoins the team from the Reserve/COVID-19 list.

Bryant was initially put on the Reserve/COVID-19 list on Dec. 10 after having a positive point-of-care test before kickoff against the Dallas Cowboys two nights prior. But Bryant’s brush with the coronavirus isn’t nearly that simple.

Bryant initially had an inconclusive test from the morning of the game, with the team getting the test results back just minutes before kickoff. With the inconclusive results, Bryant was given a point-of-care test, which came back positive. However, Bryant had been on the field during individual warm-ups and was spotted interacting with Cowboys players and staff, in some cases with his mask down. Making the situation even crazier is Bryant said he tested negative over the following days, forcing coach John Harbaugh to clarify the veteran wide receiver’s status.

With Baltimore’s wide receivers struggling, especially on Monday night against the Cleveland Browns where there were several drops, Bryant’s addition to the offense will be a welcome one. As the Ravens are looking to lock up a playoff berth and find their lost offensive mojo, the hope is Bryant can add another dimension the team is currently missing.

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Ravens coach John Harbaugh clarifies Dez Bryant’s COVID-19 situation

One day he tested positive, then he’s negative — Ravens WR Dez Bryant isn’t the only one confused. But John Harbaugh clarified things

Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Dez Bryant isn’t the only one confused about his situation. Bryant was pulled from the field shortly before the Ravens kicked off against the Dallas Cowboys on Tuesday, after testing positive for COVID-19. But in the subsequent days, Bryant has said he’s tested negative, though he was still put on the Reserve/COVID-19 list.

While there have been plenty of storylines regarding the NFL and COVID-19 this season, Bryant’s case has earned quite a bit more attention. His removal from the field just before a game mixed with some questions about the NFL’s transparency and contact tracing have only fueled speculation and intrigue. At a time when seemingly everyone is uneasy about the coronavirus and how it all works, Bryant’s story sticks out.

Though Harbaugh admitted the science behind it and the specifics of the NFL’s testing protocols are “out of his realm,” he did clarify the situation and gave a better breakdown of where Bryant stands in the process.

“He has had some negative tests,” Harbaugh said Saturday. “There’s a protocol that goes with that — a certain number of days that you have to test negative after a certain number of positive tests. He’s on schedule with that and that’s where it stands right now, he’s still on the COVID-19/Reserve list at this time.”

Though Bryant has been well behaved in Baltimore, his frustration is clearly growing and I can’t really blame him. By his previous tweets, Bryant had been in the dark about the protocols and why he was still out despite testing negative. Ultimately, that’s a breakdown somewhere in the process, seeing a player be uninformed about their own health and standing on the team as things happen around them. Considering Week 13 against the Cowboys was the most important game of the last few years for Bryant, and it was pulled out from underneath of him, I don’t think many people would blame him for being upset.

However, the good here is that, according to Harbaugh, Bryant has had several negative tests and is on schedule to return. When exactly that could be is still a giant question mark but it’s a step in the right direction.

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Dez Bryant says he’s tested negative for COVID-19 again Friday

Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Dez Bryant seemingly can’t catch a break, saying he’s tested negative for COVID-19 once again.

The Baltimore Ravens’ COVID-19 saga continues this week and on quite a different note than previous weeks.

The Ravens have been steadily returning players from the Reserve/COVID-19 list but saw wide receiver Dez Bryant pulled from the field shortly before kickoff Tuesday against the Dallas Cowboys. While there are plenty of questions around Bryant’s positive test before the game and the NFL’s contact tracing, the whole thing took a new twist in the days that followed.

On Thursday, Bryant said he had tested negative for COVID-19 on back-to-back tests. Yet, the Ravens put Bryant on the Reserve/COVID-19 list shortly after the veteran wide receiver tweeted that out. Then Friday, Bryant once again tweeted he had tested negative.

Bryant, rightfully upset about the matter, continued to tweet his dismay at the lack of transparency and communication. This isn’t the first time a Ravens player has questioned the NFL’s COVID-19 procedures and policies this season, seeing Derek Wolfe and Mark Andrews tweet mocking the league’s stance on player health and safety ahead of Week 12’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Right now, Bryant is still on the Reserve/COVID-19 list. But it’s unclear why he’s still on the list if he truly has had repeated negative tests. Since the NFL and Baltimore typically don’t discuss an individual player’s status regarding COVID-19, I wouldn’t expect an answer soon.

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Ravens place WR Dez Bryant on the Reserve/COVID-19 list

The Baltimore Ravens placed wide receiver Dez Bryant on the Reserve/COVID-19 list on Thursday after he returned a positive test on Tuesday

The Baltimore Ravens announced on Thursday they’ve placed wide receiver Dez Bryant on the Reserve/COVID-19 list. The move comes a few days after Bryant returned a positive test just a few minutes before the kickoff of Baltimore’s Week 13 game against the Dallas Cowboys.

Though Bryant downplayed the game the week prior, he was certainly looking forward to playing his old team. Similarly, Bryant was rightfully devastated when he was pulled off the field, taking to Twitter to vent his frustrations and even say he was quitting the 2020 season because of it. While Bryant eventually walked back his quitting comment, he’s been very vocal on Twitter over the matter. Bryant again took to Twitter on Thursday to say he’s had back-to-back negative tests but wasn’t spotted at practice before being placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list.

The Ravens don’t announce when players have tested positive for COVID-19 or if they’ve been labeled as a “close contact,” so it’s not perfectly clear what Bryant’s status actually is. However, if he has tested positive, he’ll miss a minimum of 10 days due to the NFL’s COVID-19 protocols. There is a small possibility that Bryant could return sooner than that if it’s proven that he doesn’t fall into either of those categories, like what happened earlier in the season with Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones.

Bryant has appeared in three games for the Ravens in 2020, accumulating four receptions for 28 yards. He’s provided a veteran presence in an extremely young wide receiver room, which has made him a welcome addition to the team. When and if he returns to the field for Baltimore, he’ll be relied upon to make an impact in the passing game.

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Dez Bryant says he’s had back-to-back negative COVID-19 tests

After getting pulled from the field just minutes before kickoff, Baltimore Ravens WR Dez Bryant says he’s tested negative for COVID-19

The Baltimore Ravens COVID-19 saga continues this week. But unlike the two weeks ago where player after player was getting put on Reserve/COVID-19 list, this time, it’s about a potential false positive.

Ravens wide receiver Dez Bryant tweeted that he’s had back-to-back negative COVID-19 tests. While that’s some level of relief, considering the coronavirus’s very real and potentially serious side effects, it still has to be especially frustrating for Bryant.

Just minutes before kickoff against the Dallas Cowboys — Bryant’s former team — the veteran wide receiver was pulled from the field and given a point-of-care test that came back positive. While Bryant downplayed the game’s weight and his departure from Dallas following the 2017 season, he was clearly very frustrated after getting taken out of that matchup.

It’s unclear right now exactly where Bryant stands when it comes to the NFL’s COVID-19 protocols. He hasn’t been put on the Reserve/COVID-19 list yet and while two negative tests should allow him to return to the team, few would blame Baltimore or the league for having an abundance of caution. Bryant was not spotted on the Ravens’ practice field Thursday, according to ESPN’s Jamison Hensley, making the situation just a little muddier.

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Ravens Dez Bryant tweets he’s negative for COVID-19

One of the few things Dallas Cowboys fans had to look forward to down the stretch of a miserable, now 3-9 season was being able to watch former star receiver Dez Bryant. Yes, it would’ve been in the uniform of the Baltimore Ravens, but with a lost …

One of the few things Dallas Cowboys fans had to look forward to down the stretch of a miserable, now 3-9 season was being able to watch former star receiver Dez Bryant. Yes, it would’ve been in the uniform of the Baltimore Ravens, but with a lost campaign most were planning to celebrate any accomplishment from the franchise’s all-time touchdown reception leader, especially if he was able to Throw Up the X one last time.

Unfortunately, a pregame positive COVID-19 test took Bryant off the field during pregame warmups and he was sent home for the game. Bryant was clearly distraught and after tweeting the news to the world, followed it up by proclaiming he was thinking about sitting out the remainder of the season. Well, it turns out that Bryant may have had a false positive result, as the receiver tweeted out Thursday afternoon that he has tested negative in back-to-back tests.

The Ravens, of course, didn’t need Bryant to defeat Dallas 34-17, but he will be a key part of their campaign to return to the playoffs. More importantly though, anyone who can avoid catching the virus that is currently killing thousands of Americans by the day is a blessing. Bryant’s tweet seems to show frustration with the fact he tested positively and was taken out of his opportunity to have a reunion game against his former employer of eight seasons, but in the grand scheme of things, being negative is clearly a good, no great thing.

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Dez Bryant’s COVID-19 diagnosis, once again, shows there is a price on public health

Why did this game go on even with a positive diagnosis?

Dez Bryant dropped a bomb on the NFL when he announced that he tested positive for COVID-19 just minutes before the Baltimore Ravens kicked off against the Dallas Cowboys, Bryant’s former team.

According to NFL Network, Dez Bryant received inconclusive results for two COVID-19 tests prior to the game kicking off, but the third test that he took was positive for the virus.

Why was he able to warm up on the field with inconclusive test results for a deadly virus that’s currently ravaging through the country? Who knows! However, that is exactly what happened.

(Warning: Explicit language in tweet)

No other Ravens players tested positive for the virus and somehow, no high-risk close contacts were tagged, which meant the game was safe to play by our desensitized 2020 standards.

The NFL released a statement via ProFootballTalk saying that the league had planned for a scenario like this and their protocols worked. “Contact tracing was conducted from yesterday and today using the contact tracing device and the standard interviews,” McCarthy said in an email to ProFootballTalk. “There were no high-risk contacts identified.”

Bryant posed an interesting question on Twitter that many people were asking as well: How on Earth was this game played? How were no high-risk close contacts identified?

Unsurprisingly, Bryant was interacting with many of his former Cowboys teammates prior to the game starting. Bryant is one of the most decorated receivers in team history, donned the legendary #88 jersey previously worn by Michael Irvin and Drew Pearson.

This game was a big deal for Bryant and it was unfortunate that he was unable to play, but he was seen interacting with members of the Cowboys organization just hours before the game began in a since-deleted tweet by Ryan Mink, the editorial director for the Baltimore Ravens.

If Bryant hadn’t tweeted out that he tested positive for COVID-19, we might not have known that he was positive for the virus considering how the Ravens initially announced that he was out for the game. Baltimore announced, 25 minutes before the game was scheduled to start, that Bryant was out for the game with an “illness”. Yea, an illness. Nothing more to see here!

If there is a bit of dark humor involved in all of this, the Ravens actually tweeted their “announcement” about Bryant’s diagnosis 15 minutes after Bryant had told the world about his positive COVID-19 test.

We already knew! And they still attempted a lackadaisical coverup!

This just continues the inconsistent, and frankly inconsequential, trend that the NFL has set with their COVID-19 protocols. The almighty dollar reigns supreme over anything and everything else, which isn’t a groundbreaking statement for anyone familiar with this loud and proud country.

The end of the regular season is right around the corner with just four games remaining on the schedule. Since the NFL has refused to add extra weeks to help soften the blow of COVID-19 running unchecked through the United States, they have no choice but to power through and play these games no matter what day of the week it is.

That’s how the Ravens have ended up playing on a Wednesday and a freaking Tuesday — two days that no one associated with the NFL before this season. That’s the real reason of why the game went on even with a COVID-19 diagnosis less than an hour before kickoff. And that mentality is why we’re still struggling to get through the pandemic almost a year after it started devastating this country.

Money talks and the NFL has it in droves.

 

Instant Analysis: Ravens 34-17 whooping of Cowboys easily explained

Lamar Jackson and company ran all over the Cowboys defense in Week 13, dropping them to 3-9 on the 2020 season.

The Dallas Cowboys once again fell short in Week 13, losing for the sixth time in their past seven games, 34-17 to the Baltimore Ravens. The game’s vibe was quickly ruined after Baltimore WR Dez Bryant was unexpectedly ruled out due to COVID during pregame warmups, casting an ominous cloud over much of the game.

The subsequent play on the field didn’t do much to dissuade the uneasy feeling Cowboys fans have had in watching the team over the last three-plus months. The loss dropped Dallas to 3-9 at the three-quarter pole of the 2020 season. Baltimore improved to 7-5 and kept their playoff hopes alive for another week.

NFL fans could relate to Dez Bryant’s ‘drink some wine and cope’ tweet

We know how you feel, Dez.

Dez Bryant was just a few minutes away from facing his former team on Tuesday night when he was called off the field during warmups for a COVID-19 test.

Moments later he found out he had a positive test result and he wouldn’t be playing in the Ravens-Cowboys game in Baltimore.

It was a huge bummer for Bryant, who was really looking forward to facing Dallas, especially after it took him so much time to get back in the NFL. Bryant was frustrated and tweeted after his test that he was going to quit for the season because he couldn’t take it.

Then he tweeted his immediate plans:

NFL fans could relate to that:

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Dez Bryant says he’s quitting rest of 2020 season after positive COVID-19 test

After getting pulled from the field just minutes before kickoff, Baltimore Ravens WR Dez Bryant said he’s quitting this season.

Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Dez Bryant got pulled from Tuesday’s game with just minutes to spare before kickoff, with Bryant saying he tested positive for COVID-19. Frustrated over the abrupt change in status and missing out on playing his former team, Bryant took to Twitter to say he’s quitting the rest of the season.

According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, Bryant’s daily PCR test had been inconclusive. But with Baltimore being so close to the testing lab, they got the gameday results back earlier than other teams would have, prompting Bryant to be pulled from warm-ups. Unfortunately, Bryant had already been on the field for individual workouts and had been hugging/shaking hands with several Cowboys players and coaches.

AP Photo/Nick Wass

It’s worth taking Bryant’s statement with a grain of salt, however. He was clearly and rightfully upset, venting his frustrations on social media. He continued to vent for several minutes, including questioning the NFL for allowing this game to be played, before just calling it a night with some wine.

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