Tag: Quarantine

Lynch: Complaints about British Open COVID rules make players look like the whiny 1 percent

Those who have enjoyed less stringent guidelines on the PGA Tour didn’t take the R&A’s COVID rules for the Open well.

The Open Championship has long been a bonanza for bellyaching by professional golfers, regardless of where the game’s oldest major is contested. British weather is too fickle (accepted as fact by all but disputatious Scots). British food is too lardaceous (“Do you have any vegetables that aren’t fried?” a former editor once asked a waiter. Answer: “No.”). British water pressure makes showering feel like being peed upon (if only the water were that warm). And that’s all before the capricious linksland bounces that short-circuit the minds of those accustomed to hitting a golf ball through the air and seeing it stop in proximity to where it landed.

This year’s Open at Royal St. George’s should have been this year’s Open at St. Andrews, but because last year’s Open at Royal St. George’s didn’t happen, this year’s Open at St. Andrews has become next year’s Open at St. Andrews, while last year’s Open at Royal St. George’s becomes this year’s. One thing hasn’t changed: the griping. What has changed is that it has commenced much earlier than usual.

This week the R&A outlined for Open competitors the COVID-19 safety protocols that will be in place for the tournament. For players, caddies and coaches who have enjoyed the successful but less stringent guidelines on the PGA Tour, the R&A’s communique went down about as well as a haggis breakfast with a hangover.

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While players are exempt from Britain’s mandatory quarantine, they will be required to provide a negative COVID test within 72 hours of entering the country and another on arrival at Royal St. George’s, unless they travel on a charter flight from the Scottish Open. Tests are required regardless of vaccination status. Players will not be allowed to visit restaurants, grocery stores or bars where they might mingle with the public. But the real source of angst—like generations of Open-going professionals before them—is accommodations.

They must stay in either an official hotel or in private self-catering homes with a maximum of four occupants, all four of whom must be part of the player’s support group—defined as caddies, coaches, medical support or translators. Alert fans will already have noticed this isn’t sufficient manpower to transport Bryson DeChambeau’s gadgetry to the range, much less accommodate the rest of his entourage. Players are also allowed one accredited family member. Unlike players and support teams, family members are not exempt from quarantine—which is currently a minimum of five days. That means many are likely to skip the trip, which would be devastating for Brit tabloid media’s traditional WAGs coverage.

The ban on visiting pubs, restaurants and grocery stories also applies to support teams and family members, and the verboten locations also includes the accommodations of other players. “No one outside the accommodation buddy group is permitted to visit others in self-catering/private accommodation,” the R&A warned. “This would be seen as a breach of the COVID-19 protocols and could lead to withdrawal from the Championship.’’

There go Jay Monahan’s hopes of a detente dinner between DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka.

Players are also subject to being disqualified if they are in contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19. The PGA Tour currently requires daily testing of players deemed to be a contact but withdrawal only if the player tests positive, as happened to Jon Rahm at the Memorial Tournament. The R&A gave no indication that a positive result would be needed before booting a player from the Open for being a contact.

“Our absolute priority is maintaining the safety of the players, fans and all involved in the Open and we are doing as much as we can to minimize the risks,” the R&A said. “We fully recognize the continuing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and that case numbers are rising in many parts of the country. The U.K. has strict contact tracing legislation in place and we are creating a minimized risk environment to protect players, caddies, officials and staff.”

The Claret Jug on display on the 1st hole tee box during the final round of the 2019 Open Championship. (Steve Flynn/USA TODAY Sports)

The triggering word there is “fans”—32,000 of them, to be exact. About 80 percent of a typical daily crowd at an Open. Complaints from players, coaches and caddies center on the presence of so many fans while they must exist in a contained bubble (cost is the unspoken subtext here, since caddies and coaches often share homes to save money but can’t do so under these rules). In fact, protocols are strict for spectators too.

Every fan in attendance at Royal St. George’s is required to show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test in the previous 48 hours. A test taken on Monday admits a spectator for Tuesday and Wednesday, but if they want to return later in the week then another test is needed. Fans will also be kept socially distanced from players at all times. This hardly suggests a mob of potentially viral spectators running rampant.

We don’t have to search hard these days to find COVID guidelines that are excessive, arbitrary and non-sensical. Some of the R&A’s rules seem so too, not least the puzzling disregard for vaccination status in deciding how insulated a person must remain for the week. In its effort to return fans (and revenue) to the only major championship that wasn’t held in 2020, the R&A is adopting a lockdown mentality that seems overbearing. But it’s not wholly unreasonable.

Britain has suffered more than 128,000 COVID-related deaths and is seeing a spike in cases due to the worrisome Delta variant. After 15 months, there exists in Britain the same frustration and anger about travel and social restrictions and about government mismanagement as you’ll find in most other affected nations. The precariousness of this social and political tinderbox only adds to the importance of this summer’s effort to return British fans of all sports to stadia. The Open is a major test of that strategy. In that environment, it’s not beyond the pale to ask players and their teams to suck it up for a week in a comparatively comfortable bubble.

Those who consider that to be an intolerable burden are free to vote with their feet and stay home, but public grumbling about being inconvenienced amid a deadly pandemic just makes golfers look like the whiny one percent. Sometimes a professional just has to forget about things out of their control and focus on the job at hand. This is one of those times. And if that’s simply too big an imposition, well the PGA Tour has an opposite field event that week in Kentucky.

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Thailand opens six resorts to international golfers on quarantine

COVID has been devastating to Thailand as a major world tourist destination, but easing restrictions for golfers a start to reopening.

Dreaming of golf somewhere exotic but worried about COVID travel restrictions abroad? Thailand has approved a quarantine solution that might be worth checking out.

The Land of Smiles has approved six golf resorts as quarantine destinations, allowing guests to move freely about the properties and play golf while waiting out a 14-day mandatory quarantine. That’s in contrast to stricter entry and quarantine regulations for most people entering the country.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand announced this week that such quarantine options are available at these six government-certified golf resorts: Mida Golf Club, Evergreen Hills Golf Club, Blue Star Golf Course, Artitaya Golf & Resort, Sawang Resort and Golf Club and Artitaya Chiang Mai Golf & Resort.

Thailand initially approved the golf-quarantine concept in December, but the six golf resorts were determined Dec. 13.

Thailand has severely restricted inbound travel from foreign destinations and has kept COVID transmission low, despite a recent surge in cases to a few hundred a day. In all, Thailand has reported fewer than 12,000 COVID cases since the pandemic began, and a relatively high level of day-to-day life in the Southeast Asian country has returned somewhat to normal – with the addition of nearly universal mask use.

But the largely tourism-based economy has taken a beating, with inbound travel down more than 99 percent versus the year before the pandemic.

Pre-COVID, Thailand was one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world. Mastercard ranks cities each year on its Global Destination Cities Index, and Bangkok was the No. 1 destination in the world in 2019 with 22.8 million visitors. That pushed it ahead of Paris, London, Dubai and Singapore. New York ranked seventh on that list with 13.6 million visitors in 2019.

In recent years, Thailand has become increasingly popular for golfers traveling from other countries that don’t offer easy tee times for residents. Customs lines at airports are often crowded with golfers from Japan and South Korea dragging travel bags. The Tourism Authority of Thailand reports that it has more than 300 “international-quality” courses, including those built by design firms headed by Jack Nicklaus, Pete Dye, Robert Trent Jones Jr. and others.

Opening the golf resorts to quarantining guests is an early step in reopening the travel economy. Most of the guests likely will be wealthy foreigners looking to play golf, but it’s not expected to be an option for huge numbers of people. Most of the few people allowed into Thailand are required to quarantine inside hotel rooms.

The Tourism Authority said in its media release that golfers still need to have all of their advance arrangements in good order for arrival and entry, including a visa, which can include a Single-Entry Tourist Visa or a Special Tourist Visa; medical and travel insurance; and a Certificate of Entry, to name but a few.

Police foil quarantined snowboarder’s plan to ride early

A snowboarder from the U.S. was fined $1,150 after cutting his 14-day quarantine in Canada short to try to hit the slopes at Whistler Blackcomb resort.

A snowboarder from the U.S. was fined $1,150 after cutting his 14-day quarantine in Canada short to try to hit the slopes at Whistler Blackcomb.

The plan might have worked but the man was pulled over last Monday as he neared the British Columbia resort for driving with expired license-plate tags.

According to CBC, the police officer contacted the Canada Border Services Agency and learned that the unidentified man still had two days left on his quarantine order.

“They had chosen to leave their home in North Vancouver and were attempting to go up to Whistler to do some snowboarding a bit early,” Kevin Goodmurphy, a CBSA spokesman, told CBC. “It’s all risky behavior. There are quarantine rules in place for a reason … and we take it seriously,”

The man was ordered back to the home to continue his quarantine.

Whistler Blackcomb has opened for 2020-21 under a reservations system designed to limit access and allow for social distancing. Other measures designed to stop the spread of COVID-19 also are in place.

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Irishman Shane Lowry continues his pre-U.S. Open tour in wine country

British Open champ Shane Lowry said goodbye to his wife and daughter 6 weeks ago and is playing the Safeway Open ahead of next week’s major.

NAPA, Calif. – Shane Lowry’s tour of the United States continues this week in wine country, though the reigning British Open champion isn’t imbibing.

“I do like a glass of wine, but I don’t drink the week of tournaments, so I’m taking it easy; I’m relaxing,” he said. “We are going for a nice meal tonight, we’re going to French Laundry, which is supposed to be very special, so I’m looking forward to that. I’ll leave the drinking to (caddie) Bo. Bo will look after the wine for me this week.”

Lowry squeezed into the FedEx Cup playoffs at No. 123, but missed the cut at the Northern Trust and spent the last two weeks taking a buddy trip to Newport, Rhode Island, and practicing at his U.S. base in Florida for the upcoming U.S. Open.

He arrived here on Sunday and the Irishman was greeted by temperatures reaching 114 degrees. In addition to caddie Brian ‘Bo’ Martin, Lowry is traveling with a childhood friend, who doubles as his physical therapist and keeps Lowry company after his wife and young daughter returned to Ireland six and a half weeks ago.

Safeway Open: Odds, best bets

“It’s not been easy at times. I miss them an awful lot and to be honest, probably if it wasn’t for the U.S. Open next week, I probably wouldn’t have lasted the full stint over here because it’s just been incredibly hard,” he said. “Especially when your daughter’s growing up and she’s only three and a half, but it is what it is. It’s not like I’m going to war or anything, I’m just going to play golf, so I just have to get on with it.”

Lowry, who didn’t play the week before winning the British Open last year in Northern Ireland, joked he’ll probably never play ahead of that major again, but he didn’t want to go into next week’s U.S. Open at Winged Foot in New York having gone three weeks without competing. While some players may have been turned off by having to go from the West Coast to the East Coast for the re-scheduled national championship, Lowry took a different view.

Shane Lowry studies his putt on the first hole during the second round of the Wyndham Championship golf tournament at Sedgefield Country Club. (Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports)

“I’m close, I’m in America. My family are in Ireland, so I couldn’t go back to Ireland because of the quarantine — there was no point — so, yeah, I just decided to play here,” he said. “I would be down in Florida this week just playing golf every day and practicing and probably with my mind too much on the U.S. Open, so it’s nice to get to an event.”

It also gives him a chance to test drive a slew of new equipment under the gun. Lowry arrived at yesterday’s practice round with six different drivers and whittled it down to one and also said he’ll be putting a fresh set of irons in play in hopes that the new grooves will spin more, “which might be helpful at Winged Foot trying to stop the ball on some of those greens,” he said. “For me, this is the only week that matters right now. Then when I get to Winged Foot next Monday I’ll start to think about that, but obviously this week, first and foremost, I want to do well.”

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Duane Brown thinks Damien Lewis holds promise for the future

Seattle Seahawks offensive tackle Duane Brown told reporters in a Zoom call that rookie guard Damien Lewis shows promise for the future.

Seattle Seahawks offensive tackle Duane Brown told reporters in a Zoom call Thursday that rookie offensive guard Damien Lewis holds a lot of promise for the future.

“I think Damien Lewis is going to be a baller,” Brown said. “He’s looked really good.”

Brown described the adversity Lewis had to face this offseason with the COVID-19 pandemic and having to learn in quarantine until training camp, as well as Lewis’ tenacity against the Seahawks’ defensive line.

“He didn’t have a typical rookie offseason,” Brown said. “He had to learn everything at home. He was really able to retain a lot of information and to be able to see him physically in practice in 1-on-1s, he’s been stellar. And we have a good group of defensive linemen. They make us work. And (Lewis) has a lot of ability. He’s strong. Plays with great leverage. He can move well. We’ve had a lot of guys that have been standing out, but him stepping in as a rookie in his first NFL action, he’s been that guy to me.”

Brown went on to state that the team is balancing preparation for the 2020 season between group chats and being at the facility, looking to achieve the best possible outcome.

“As far as outside of football, it’s getting to know each other,” Brown said. “We’re all in group chats. We have our Zoom meetings. We’re just trying to learn from each other and being in the facility some. We have that opportunity. Other than that, it just comes down to work. You can’t really simulate anything outside of just playing. We just have to get our work in in practice. Like I said, so far it’s been really good. We’ll have adversity at some point that we’ll have to overcome. That’s what builds character. So whenever that happens, we’ll face it.”

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Prescott on Cowboys’ COVID bubble: ‘Healthiest team wins’

Dak Prescott and ‘most’ of the Cowboys players are holed up in the hotel attached to their team headquarters as 2020 training camp begins.

The COVID-19 era will undoubtedly leave its mark on the 2020 NFL season, in whatever form it ends up taking. From the mechanics of how players and coaches interact with one another to fans’ attendance at games to the various pieces of equipment that have instantly become a standard part of present-day football gear, the game will change as a result of the pandemic.

But it’s the less obvious things, too. The unexpected ways the virus will force teams to alter their tendencies, their gameplans, their strategies, their very philosophies. Football has always been about the Xs and Os. But in 2020, it could come down to one simple tenet: The healthiest team wins.

Those were the words of Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott as he spoke to media members via videoconference on Wednesday. But he wasn’t speaking about the normal on-the-field injuries that typically turn a football season into a war of attrition decided by twisted knees, sprained ankles, and gimpy hamstrings. He was talking about the global pandemic that has claimed 166,000 lives in the US, has altered even the most basic routines of the majority of Americans, has forced millions to shelter in place at home… and inspired a sizable contingent of the Cowboys players to voluntarily sequester themselves in the hotel attached to their team headquarters.

“I’m already there,” Prescott said of The Omni Frisco Hotel, located at The Star. “For me, it’s about trying to stay as safe as I can, as healthy as I can. Without knowing the true future of where this season’s going to go, I think it’s important for us as players to try to create the biggest bubble- or the smallest bubble, I guess you can say- that we can amongst players, because as long as this season gets to play out, I think part of it is: The healthiest team wins. So that’s something we’ve come together as leaders and taken on this option to stay in this hotel. So we can try and stay healthy, we can all be there for each other, we can set an example for the young guys about avoiding downtown, or about avoiding other people and where people can go. Because what’s important right now is this football team, this season, and not only our health, but the health of our families, so I think this is the best way that we can make sure that that happens.”

While the exact number of Dallas players living at the hotel is unknown, Prescott estimated it to be “most of” the roster. The arrangement, paid for by the team, will dramatically limit those players’ exposure to people and places in their normal daily lives, hopefully reducing their risk- and the collective risk of the team as a whole- of contracting the virus.

“Once again, I can’t be mad at the guys for their personal reasons, or their family matters, that they may not want to come into the bubble or come into the hotel. But I know and trust they’re being grown men and doing the things they need to do and the things necessary to keep their health safe and to not put themselves in jeopardy of getting this deal and coming in here and giving it to anybody else.”

 

The hotel is becoming quite the home away from home for Cowboys personnel this year. Mike McCarthy also took up residence at The Omni for a time after his hiring in January as the team’s new coach. In the early days of his Dallas tenure, as he began the work of assembling a new staff, living at the hotel made the daily commute to his new office as quick and simple as an elevator ride.

McCarthy voiced approval of the players’ self-imposed bubble on Wednesday, acknowledging that it’s a luxury some other teams don’t have, and one that will benefit more than just his guys.

“Being connected to the Omni, it’s frankly just natural that we do the best that we can to create an environment to keep our players safe. Plus with the education and keeping up with the current protocols and as we continue to go through this challenge of battling COVID, that there are updates and upgrades. It’s only going to make us safer as a football team and, frankly, it’s only going to make us safer in a personal realm of educating our families and bringing the same focus and education into our own homes. Just very fortunate for the setup that we do have here. So we’re really looking at trying to create an Oxnard-type environment here at The Star. I think we’ve knocked it out of the park, and our players have totally bought into it and they’re excited about it. We’re off to an excellent start as far as handling this challenge.”

As for Prescott, he says his hotel accommodations won’t put much of a crimp in his day-to-day life.

“I’m not much of a going-out guy anyway,” the 27-year-old admitted, “so it’s been pretty easy for me, for the most part.”

For most of the Cowboys bunking in at The Omni, living next to a practice field might be a unique experience. For Prescott, though, it’s just a change of scenery. The quarterback, who’s bringing down $31.4 million this season under the franchise tag, had a full-size football field installed at his home recently.

“Obviously once COVID came around, it was tough to find a place to throw. It was very tough. I’ve always dreamed about having a football field in my backyard, so that was something that I kind of put the foot down and said, ‘Hey, let’s get it going. It can give me somewhere every offseason.’ You can’t plan for things like this, but when things like this come around, I’ll just be able to have it, and it’s obviously private access, and we can get the work we need. That was kind of the thought in creating that field in my backyard, and it’s been very beneficial. Just having the guys out there, being able to throw, being able to get a lot of work, and we’re going to hit camp running because we’ve been working for a good amount of time now.”

 

Cowboys wide receiver Amari Cooper confirmed to ESPN’s Todd Archer that he and several other receivers, tight ends, and running backs have worked out “consistently” with Prescott over the offseason, often on the quarterback’s backyard field.

Prescott, clearly, is all in on the 2020 season and will command one of the most promising offenses the team has featured in years.

Still, COVID-19 has made for uncertain times and unexpected changes of plans. The Mississippi State product was asked during Wednesday’s press conference if he considered opting out of the 2020 season, as over sixty other NFL players chose to do proactively out of concern over the virus.

“Never crossed my mind,” Prescott shot back. “Football has always been my safe haven. It’s always been a place for me to find peace. Especially with everything that’s happened in my life personally, especially in the place that this world is in, I think that football’s a safe heaven and it’s peace for a lot of people. It never crossed my mind to opt out and to not be here with the guys and to not be where I love to be doing what I’ve been blessed to do. Obviously, there are some concerns. But for me, it’s just about being as safe as I can, following the guidelines that the team and NFL have laid out for us to not put yourself in jeopardy of contracting this COVID thing.”

For those who have chosen to play on, the voluntary bubble at the team’s own facility presents the safest way to keep playing and preparing for an upcoming season. And should the quarantine prove effective at keeping the Cowboys healthy through training camp, Prescott is keeping the door open on possibly extending his stay into the regular season if the virus’s spread dictates.

“Right now, we’ve kind of talked about it as players more just for the camp, but who knows? As we go into this season, obviously, hopefully, doctors and people can still give us more updates of what’s going on in COVID and going on around not only our area, our community, our state, but this country. Right now, we’re just going to take it for the camp, but it may continue to go on. As I said, I think that the healthiest team has one of the best shots to win this so we’re going to do the best that we can to put ourselves in that small group.”

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Seahawks John Ursua says his 1st COVID-19 test was false positive

Seahawks wide receiver John Ursua says his first COVID-19 test was actually a false positive and he has now had two negative tests in a row.

The Seattle Seahawks hadn’t had a single player test positive for the coronavirus through the first two weeks of training camp until wide receiver John Ursua received his results early Sunday morning.

Ursua was immediately placed on the NFL’s Reserve/COVID-19 list and began isolating in his hotel room. He took a second test on Sunday and was delivered a negative result on Monday. He has now received a second negative test in a row.

“Thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers my test was a false positive I do not have the virus,” Ursua posted on his Instagram account early on Tuesday.

With the news of the false-positive test, the Seahawks remain one of the few teams in the league to have no players or staff battling the coronavirus.

Seattle players are now set to take to the field on Wednesday for the first real practice session of this year’s training camp.

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‘Like I was in a car crash’: Cowboys legend Darren Woodson details COVID battle

Safety Darren Woodson discussed his own fight with COVID-19 and implores today’s players to follow protocols with their teams and at home.

Sixty-six NFL players chose to opt out of the 2020 season over concerns regarding COVID-19. For the two thousand or so who will play on- not to mention the coaches, staff members, and other essential personnel that make up each team- trying to do their job and play this game amidst a global pandemic while following proper safety protocols will be a daily, even hourly, endeavor.

One Cowboys legend is imploring those players to take that responsibility seriously. The coronavirus is a formidable opponent capable of blindsiding anyone, even someone who’s doing everything right. Darren Woodson knows from personal experience. The Ring of Honor safety is now recovering from his own battle with COVID-19, a fight that knocked him flat with frightening speed and power.

When asked if he would rather face COVID-19 again or have to tackle Barry Sanders in the open field, Woodson didn’t hesitate.

“Barry. Any day.”

The five-time Pro Bowler, the last Cowboys player from the 1990s dynasty to retire, says he and his family had been taking all the recommended precautions.

“We did everything to prepare ourselves for COVID,” Woodson told WFAA-TV this week. “We isolated ourselves. We basically quarantined ourselves.”

But then Woodson’s wife Tiffany had to travel to Houston on business. A coworker she was with there had COVID-19, unbeknownst to her at the time.

“My wife had zero symptoms at all,” Woodson explained. “Went to the doctor, tested positive, still without any symptoms.”

So the three-time Super Bowl champ took himself and his two sons to get tested. All tested negative.

“And then, all of a sudden, five hours later after a negative test, I have the chills, 102-degree temperature, had all the COVID symptoms.”

Five hours later… after a negative test.

And for the franchise tackles leader who made a 13-year career out of punishing ballcarriers, this invisible foe laid him out.

“Like I was in a car crash. My body was achy. Sore. Back, legs, hard to get out of bed for a day.”

Or, as he described it to Nick Eatman on the team website, “It felt like, at my age, at 51 years old, that I played a game. A full game and got 90 reps. And waking up the next morning, that’s what it felt like. I could barely move.”

The coronavirus took more than just a physical toll on Woodson.

“It affected me more mentally than physically after the first couple days,” he admitted, “because I just didn’t know when I was going to get back to myself.”

After ten days, Woodson did feel like himself again. His wife never showed symptoms at all. His sons, only a fever. And it’s that unpredictable nature of COVID-19 and how any given person might or might not respond that he says should make embarking on an NFL season such a sobering proposition for today’s players.

In June, Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott was one of the first NFL players to be diagnosed with COVID-19. Taking precautions then was fairly simple; Elliott reported during a self-isolated Twitch game of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare that he felt “one or two days where I felt symptoms, and even then it wasn’t too bad.”

But for players now fully assembled as squads- practicing and meeting and working in close contact with each other every day- following proper distancing and hygenic procedures will be a constant challenge. Doing the right things away from their heavily-monitored team facilities will be exponentially harder.

“I would approach it this way,” says NFL insider Jay Glazer in The Athletic. “Tell your team, ‘If I told you if you went out in public, and as a result, you had a realistic chance you could get a two-week ankle sprain, all of you would think it’s a no-brainer to stay home. Let’s look at COVID the same way. If you go out, there’s a legit shot you could be lost for a couple weeks. So let’s just stay away from everyone else.'”

That’s not an option for guys with families, as Woodson’s case illustrates. And it’s why the four-time All-Pro hopes players take the virus seriously and follow all the recommended guidelines, whether with their teammates or away from them.

“When I leave this house, it’s not about me. It’s about you. It’s about everyone else,” Woodson says.”Guys can’t go out. Things are different. Young veterans can’t go out on the street or into a bar. They are going to have to take precautions going into the season.”

Woodson says if he had been faced with the decision of whether to suit up in the current situation, he would probably play. But he knows that the choice is up to each individual player, and it may well come down to more than just the player.

“Individually,” he told Eatman, “you have to look at yourself and say, ‘Am I willing to take on the risk of walking into a room of 53 players and someone getting COVID and now we’re all exposed to it? And then I’m taking that back to the house: my wife, maybe my mom lives with me who may be 60 years old and above. There’s so many risks that are inherent. And being around so may players, you have to be willing to take that risk.”

Woodson didn’t sign up for that risk. But he got clobbered by the coronavirus anyway. And he knows not everyone who does battle with this opponent simply gets up and walks back to the huddle.

“I got it, and it was one thing. I know a lot of friends that have come down with COVID that didn’t see the next day. That’s where my heart is.”

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Seahawks have successful start to camp, no positive COVID-19 tests

The Seattle Seahawks have been one of only a dozen or so other clubs that have yet to have a player test positive for COVID-19 in camp.

The Seattle Seahawks have been one of the more fortunate teams around the league this summer, joining only a dozen or so other clubs that have yet to have a player test positive for COVID-19.

Coach Pete Carroll was asked about the Seahawks’ success so far during a Zoom press conference Monday afternoon.

“We’re really pleased with the start,” Carroll told reporters. “Really absolutely pleased we did everything we could have done in the quarantine week. There’s a lot that goes into that, but it was trying to win the week really, so we competed our way through it, and I feel like we did that. As far as moving forward, what’s happening right now is we’re trying to get everything in motion so that we can operate at a really high level of taking care of our guys. We don’t want to leave any stone unturned of what it takes to make sure our guys are safe.”

Players spent the first week of camp undergoing COVID-19 testing, with three negative tests required before entering the team facility. While some players have been living at home, quite a few have been staying at a local hotel since the start of camp.

Monday marked the first day the team could take the field – in a limited capacity, however – and Carroll wants to make sure he and his players are doing so carefully.

“We’re in a ramp-up period just getting started,” Carroll said “We won’t be practicing like we like to practice for days ahead here, but at this time at least we’re on the field and we’re getting going and we’re starting to make the process come to life. We’re off to a really good start with our guys. One of the big emphasis to get rolling here was coming in under quarantine mentality, and we’re very fortunate that we tested our way through it and we had very good results.”

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