Tag: nfl covid-19

3 Chargers players removed from COVID-19 list

The Chargers continue to get some key players back ahead of their matchup against the Broncos

The Chargers continue to get some key players back ahead of their matchup against the Broncos, as Mike Williams and Michael Davis were removed from the Reserve/COVID-19 list on Thursday.

Additionally, Emeke Egbule was activated and reinstated to the practice squad.

Since Williams is unvaccinated, he was trending towards missing this game. But given the new protocols where players can return after a positive test for asymptomatic individuals from 10 days to five days regardless of vaccination status, he was activated.

That leaves ten players on the COVID-19 list as of today. Here’s an updated look:

Chris Harris Jr.

Nasir Adderley

Alohi Gilman

Andrew Brown

Matt Overton

Davontae Harris

Dustin Hopkins

Trey Pipkins

Kenneth Murray

Storm Norton

Chargers add 4 players to COVID-19 list, remove 5

As the COVID-19 outbreak on the Chargers continues to develop, the team placed four players on the Reserve/COVID-19 list.

As the COVID-19 outbreak on the Chargers continues to develop, the team placed four players on the Reserve/COVID-19 list Tuesday afternoon.

The following players were officially added:

LS Matt Overton

K Dustin Hopkins

OT Trey Pipkins

CB Davontae Harris

Five players came off the Reserve/COVID-19 list, with those being:

DL Justin Jones

EDGE Chris Rumph

QB Chase Daniel

OL Senio Kelemete

KR/PR Andre Roberts

The Chargers currently have 14 active-roster players, with the most notables being Joey Bosa, Corey Linsley, Mike Williams, Nasir Adderley, and Michael Davis. However, there’s a chance they could play this weekend, given the new guidelines.

The NFL and the NFL Players Association on Tuesday adopted the new Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention guidelines that would reduce the quarantine time to five days from 10 days for all players, including those who are unvaccinated, if they are asymptomatic.

Chargers’ Austin Ekeler, Corey Linsley, Joey Bosa added to COVID-19 list

The Chargers could have a COVID-19 outbreak on their hands.

The Chargers could have a COVID-19 outbreak on their hands.

Corey Linsley, Austin Ekeler, and Joey Bosa are being placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list, according to The Athletic’s Daniel Popper.

Popper added to his report that more names are expected to be added later.

 

Report: Less than half of Chargers vaccinated for COVID-19

The Chargers are one of four teams that are still under 50% vaccinated for COVID-19.

The Chargers are one of four teams that are still under 50% vaccinated for COVID-19, according to The Associated Press.

The three other teams who have the lowest-vaccinated rates are the Washington Football Team, Arizona Cardinals and Indianapolis Colts.

The league hasn’t made the vaccinations mandatory but with their release of the protocols for the vaccinated and unvaccinated players, there is a big difference of what is and isn’t allowed for the two parties.

The difference is pretty stark. Players who are not fully vaccinated have to be tested for COVID every day. They must wear masks at all times at team facilities and during team travel. They must remain physically distant from others in team facilities. They must quarantine after any high-risk exposure to COVID. They will undergo travel restrictions. They must be limited regarding personnel in the weight room. They can’t eat with their teammates in the cafeteria. There are no social media/marketing/sponsorship activities permitted. They may not use the team sauna or steam room. They can’t leave team hotels to eat in restaurants, and they can’t interact with anyone outside of the team’s traveling party during team travel.

Vaccinated players have no such restrictions.

While it’s not mandatory, it will be interesting to see if more players end up deciding to get the vaccine after they experience the difference in protocols upon returning to training camp.

Because COVID-19 can keep a player from getting on the field, it will be a storyline in its own to watch for the Chargers throughout the preseason and regular season.

According to AP, about 73 percent of players have been vaccinated overall, with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Miami Dolphins, Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos have the highest vaccinated rates overall.

The NFL doesn’t plan to cancel any games this season, a source told the AP.

NFL teams pausing activity due to COVID-19 tests

Several NFL teams hit the pause button on football activity Sunday after positive COVID-19 tests.

Professional sports leagues continue to balance the return to action during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the NFL is no exception. Recently, the testing numbers seemed to indicate that training camps were working to keep players healthy, but that may have hit a snag over the weekend.

According to Tom Pelissero, several teams decided to alter or cancel football activities on Sunday “after irregularities in results from Saturday’s COVID-19 test results.” The league released a statement as well:

According to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com, the Cleveland Browns had “double-digit positive COVID-19 tests from Saturday:”

That led to the Browns being one of the teams to pause football activities.

The Chicago Bears also found that nine members of the organization tested positive, although according to the organization these are being considered false positives after retests:

Hopefully this is just a testing issue, and not a sign of infectious spread.

Terrell Lewis recovers from COVID-19, activated by Rams

Former Alabama outside linebacker Terrell Lewis is being activated off the reserve list by the Rams after recovering from COVID-19.

During the first episode of the hit HBO series “Hard Knocks”, it was revealed that Terrell Lewis had gone on the reserve/COVID-19 list because he had contracted the coronavirus.

It was unfortunate news for the former Alabama outside linebacker, but there’s good news for Lewis — and the Los Angeles Rams, who drafted him in the third-round of the 2020 NFL Draft.

According to the official Twitter for the Rams, Lewis was activated from the reserve list on Friday morning as the team continues to work towards its opening game of the season against the Dallas Cowboys on Sept. 13.

It’s good to see Lewis be able to get back on the field so quickly. After dealing with multiple injuries throughout his career at Alabama, the 6-foot-5, 262-pound edge player needs every rep possible if he wants to make an impact during Year 1.

There is only one other player on the Rams roster heading into 2020, and that’s former defensive tackle A’Shawn Robinson. Unfortunately, Robinson is currently listed on the Active/Non-Football Injury list. He’s currently out indefinitely.

Stay tuned for more NFL updates on former Crimson Tide players from Roll Tide Wire, part of the USA TODAY Sports College Wire network!

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Nick Chubb concerned about one bad apple ‘messing it up for everybody’

Former Georgia RB Nick Chubb has concerns that one player testing positive for COVID-19 could ruin it for everybody.

Former Georgia running back Nick Chubb, now ranked as the No. 3 running back in the NFL, is worried that one bad apple will spoil the whole barrel.

Chubb, who is entering his third year in the league, is fearful that something will go wrong with COVID-19 issues for his team the Cleveland Browns.

“My biggest concern is just one person messing it up for everybody,” Chubb said in a Zoom teleconference with reporters on Tuesday, when asked about the coronavirus. “If one person gets sick, if somebody somehow gets on the field around a lot more guys, he can spread it through that. We have tests every morning so I think that wouldn’t happen anyway, but if somehow some guy slipped past the test and all that, then that would worry me.”

The NFL has implemented strict safety guidelines for returning during the pandemic, but Chubb is right.  It would only take one to ruin it for everybody.

The NFL is faced with a much tougher situation than the NBA or NHL.  Teams are much larger and require a lot more space to conduct team activities.  The idea of a ‘NFL bubble’ is simply not feasible and the league will need to rely on trusting players to follow protocol, or things could get ugly.

The Browns have five players who decided to opt out of the 2020 season due to COVID-19 concerns.  That list has four offensive lineman including Drew Forbes, Drake Dorbeck, Colby Gossett and Malcolm Pridgeon.

How you can still experience Buccaneers training camp during COVID-19

Find out how you can tune in to watch the Buccaneers at training camp this year.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have begun training camp, and despite the heralded arrival of Tom Brady, the global coronavirus pandemic has made this offseason and subsequent camp one of the most unusual ever.

With preseason games cancelled and the league taking things day by day, it might be hard for fans to stay excited. Fortunately, the Buccaneers have found a way to let fans experience training camp without having to attend in person.

Fans can tune in to Training Camp Live with the Bucs starting on August 17 when they begin padded practices.

Check out the schedule for Training Camp Live and how to tune in below:

Live Programming: Catch a live update show each day of padded practices on Buccaneers.com, the official app, Facebook and YouTube.

-Bucs Training Camp Live Schedule

  • Day 1: Aug. 17 9 a.m.
  • Day 2: Aug. 18 9 a.m.
  • Day 3: Aug. 19 9 a.m.
  • Day 4: Aug. 20 9 a.m.
  • Day 5: Aug. 21 9 a.m.
  • Day 6: Aug. 23 9 a.m.
  • Day 7: Aug. 24 9 a.m.
  • Day 8: Aug. 25 9 a.m.
  • Day 9: Aug. 26 9 a.m.
  • Day 10: Aug. 27 9 a.m.
  • Day 11: Aug. 28 9 a.m.
  • Day 12: Aug. 30 9 a.m.
  • Day 13: Aug. 31 9 a.m.
  • Day 14: Sept. 1 9 a.m.

*Information courtesy of Buccaneers.com.

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Former Georgia QB Matthew Stafford’s COVID-19 test was ‘false positive’

Tuesday, the Detroit Lions revised their original report that QB Matt Stafford tested positive for COVID-19, details here.

Saturday, the Detroit Lions reported that star quarterback, former Georgia football star Matthew Stafford tested positive for the coronavirus.

However, in a revised report from the Lions on Tuesday, the organization stated that Stafford’s test was a ‘false positive’ and that he was removed from the NFL’s new ‘reserve/ COVID-19 list’.

The Lions had placed Stafford on the NFL’s new ‘reserve/ COVID-19 list’, making him the first starting quarterback to be placed on the list that was created for a player who either tests positive for COVID-19 or who has been quarantined after having been in close contact with an infected person or persons.

If a player falls into either of these categories, their club is required to immediately place the player on the reserve/COVID-19 list. Per agreed upon NFL-NFLPA policy, clubs are not permitted to comment on a player’s medical status other than referring to roster status. Clubs also may not disclose whether the player is in quarantine or is positive for COVID-19.

In Tuesday’s statement, the Lions ensured that Stafford does not have the virus and that he has received multiple negative tests on top of the original ‘false positive’ test.

Today we removed Matthew Stafford from the COVID-IR list and onto the Active Roster. As a result of a False-Positive test result, he was forced due to NFL/NFLPA protocols to sit out until he received two negative tests. His testing sequence for the Pre-Entry period was: negative, negative, False-Positive. The next three tests were all negative. To be clear, Matthew does NOT have COVID-19 and never has had COVID-19 and the test in question was a False-Positive. Also, all of Matthew’s family have been tested and everyone is negative.

In a statement posted on her Instagram account, Kelly Stafford expanded on how her family has dealt with the past week saying it was somewhat of a nightmare situation while blaming the NFL for the ‘false positive’ test.

Kelly concluded her post by saying their family is “absolutely fine and feeling great.”

“We are thankful for all those who called, texted, emailed and showed concern for Matthew and our family.”

 

What does the training camp process look like in light of COVID-19?

With the coronavirus pandemic ongoing, take a look at how the NFL training camp process will work.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and other NFL teams are returning today for the start of training camp. But given the unusual offseason that’s resulted from the coronavirus pandemic, the league is making sure to take things nice and easy.

So, how does the training camp process look like now because of COVID-19?

Here’s a look for you.

Players will have a week to decide whether or not they’ll opt out of the 2020 season because of concerns about the virus and ongoing pandemic. As of now, no Buccaneers players have chosen that route.

Stay tuned…

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