Tag: reserve/COVID-19 list

Pittsburgh Steelers’ Mike Tomlin sheds light on team’s COVID situation

The Steelers face more challenges in regards to stopping the spread of the virus among the team.

After Steelers tight end Vance McDonald tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday, Pittsburgh used an abundance of caution and placed four other players on the reserve/COVID-19 list on Tuesday.

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin spoke at length about his team’s situation in his weekly press conference on Tuesday.

Here’s a rundown of action the Steelers are have taken and are taking to limit potential virus spread and exposure, according to Tomlin:

  • Masks are worn when traveling 100 percent of the time.
  • Ben Roethlisberger, linebacker Vince Williams, running back Jaylen Samuels and offensive lineman Jerald Hawkins will work remotely this week. As long as they continue to test negative, as Roethlisberger has once, the four will practice on Saturday and play Sunday.
  • Players will only be at the facility for walk-throughs and practices. All meetings will be conducted virtually.
  • Weight training will be done rotationally.
  • Training room schedule will also be rotational. Should Roethlisberger need treatment for his knee injuries, he’ll get it.
  • The Steelers “speed dial New York often” to keep on top of all things regarding protocol, testing, and when it’s safe for once positive players to return.
  • Contract tracing devices track the extent of contact and close contact. When someone tests positive, NFL officials use the data to help determine a “level of concern regarding the potential exposure of people.” Said officials are in charge of putting players and personnel into categories or placing on reserve/COVID-19 list.

Tomlin DOES. NOT. CARE. about the challenges that come with working remotely. “We’ve had a lot of practice here in 2020 in installing and giving information and receiving information remotely. We’ve done this with the entire playbook multiple times already in this process. We have no reservations about the remote meetings this week.”

Tomlin added that he and the Steelers have “a great deal of confidence in the protocol, our participation in it, its effectiveness.”

Let’s hope there are no more positives and that their participation in protocol leads to a healthy team taking the field on Sunday.

[vertical-gallery id=481035]

[lawrence-related id=481273]

Lions activate Jalen Elliott from reserve/COVID-19, release Khari Lee from practice squad

The Detroit Lions have activated safety Jalen Elliott from the reserve/COVID-19 list and released tight end Khari Lee from the practice squad in a corresponding move.

[jwplayer bkhB5hxO-ThvAeFxT]

The Detroit Lions announced they have activated safety Jalen Elliott from the reserve/COVID-19 list and released tight end Khari Lee from the practice squad in a corresponding move.

After activating Matthew Stafford on Saturday, Jarrad Davis on Monday, and Elliot today, the Lions reserve/COVID-19 list is once again emptied.

While the player’s list is empty, the Lions did announce on Saturday that a staff member had tested positive for COVID-19. As of yesterday, the team did not have any updates on this situation.

“I think from that standpoint, I’m definitely not going to comment on anybody’s health status from those situations,” coach Matt Patrica said at Monday’s press conference. “We’ll report as we’re following all the policies and guidelines from that standpoint. I totally respect the questions, and I appreciate that, but just trying to do the best I can to follow all the guidelines, and certainly when we talk about people’s health, and just the team in general, I try to do a good job of respecting all that.”

Elliot will likely rejoin the team’s practice squad when they take the practice field again tomorrow as they begin preparation for the Washington Football Team.

Steelers’ Vance McDonald placed on reserve/COVID-19 list

The Steelers have placed their tight end on the reserve/COVID-19 list. He traveled to Dallas with the team this weekend.

According to the NFL wire report, Steelers tight end Vance McDonald has been placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list.

McDonald was listed on the injury report on Friday with an illness but was cleared to travel with the team to Dallas.

Per the NFL’s COVID-19 policies and procedures manual, the player(s) who tested positive is are immediately isolated. They are forbidden access to team facilities, not allowed to have any direct contact with fellow players or team personnel and are placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list.

In the event a player develops symptoms for the first time while inside the team facility, he must go through the following protocols:

  • Immediately isolate in a separate room
  • Continue to wear a mask
  • Be transported and quarantined at home ASAP

Players can return when the following has been met:

Following a positive test, if the player is asymptomatic, he can return once:

  • 10 days have passed since the initial positive test; OR
  • Five days have passed since the initial positive test and the player receives two consecutive negative PCR virus tests at least 24 hours apart within that five-day period

Following a positive test, if the player demonstrates symptoms, he can return when:

  • At least 10 days have passed since symptoms first appeared; AND
  • At least 72 hours have passed since he last experienced symptoms

In either case, a player who tests positive must be cleared by his team’s head physician before returning.

[vertical-gallery id=481035]

[lawrence-related id=481025]

Detroit Lions place Tony McRae on IR, activate Jarrad Davis from reserve/COVID-19

The Detroit Lions announced they have placed starting gunner Tony McRae on injured reserve and activated Jarrad Davis from reserve/COVID-19.

The Detroit Lions announced they have placed starting gunner/corner Tony McRae on injured reserve and activated linebacker Jarrad Davis from the reserve/COVID-19 list.

McRae’s knee injury is significant enough that the Lions placed him on the long-term injured reserve, meaning he will not return this season. With him being on a one-year contract and the front office/coaching staff walking on thin ice, his future with the team is not clear at this time.

He does have a few things working in his favor that could lead to a second contract with the Lions. McRae found his way to Detroit, following special teams coordinator Brayden Coombs — who the Lions would be nuts to move on from — and the pair have solid chemistry.

While Coombs has rotated gunners this season, McRae has been the only constant, playing every gunner snap available ahead of his injury — 28 of his 121 special teams snaps.

On Sunday, McRae was replaced by Justin Coleman while Mike Ford was opposite him replacing Jamal Agnew. Between the three, two will likely emerge as gunners moving forward.

Davis will rejoin the Lions six days after it was announced he was being placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list, indicating like Matthew Stafford, he was likely in the high-risk close contact category, is symptom-free, and has passed the appropriate amount of tests with negative results.

Steelers’ Vance McDonald, ill this week, cleared to travel with team to Dallas

The tight end traveled with his team to play in Steelers-Cowboys matchup tomorrow.

Vance McDonald, who traveled with the team this afternoon, was listed on the Steelers injury report on Friday with an illness. That illness was not the coronavirus.

McDonald would not have traveled today if he had the virus. It’s that time of year where people and, yes, players get things called a “cold” and the “flu.”

Though the type of illness is not specified on team reports, you can rest assured it wasn’t COVID-19.

Here’s why.

If a player tests positive for the virus, he is designated reserve/COVID-19. This designation is specifically for a player who either tests positive for COVID-19 or who has been in “close contact with infected person or persons.”

After Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list this week, our friends over at For The Win posted a great piece that breaks everything down nicely.

Per TribLive’s Joe Rutter, Steelers tight end Vance McDonald boarded a plane headed for Dallas Saturday afternoon.

For more information, check out these links:

[vertical-gallery id=479566]

[lawrence-related id=480859]

Matthew Stafford is back on the Lions active roster after clearing COVID-19 protocols

Matthew Stafford is back on the Detroit Lions active roster after clearing the league’s COVID-19 protocols. He is eligible to play on Sunday.

The Detroit Lions will get their quarterback back for their Week 9 matchup with the Minnesota Vikings, as Matthew Stafford has cleared the league’s health/safety protocols and has been removed from the reserve/COVID-19 list.

On Monday, Stafford was in close contact with an individual who tested positive for COVID-19 and immediately began isolating/testing. On Wednesday, the Lions announced Stafford was being placed on the reserve list while in isolation and it was reported he fell into the “high risk” category, meaning he needed to stay in isolation and receive negative results for five consecutive days before he could rejoin the team.

Those parameters have been met, Stafford has been cleared medically, and the Lions activated him back to the 53-man roster.

Stafford was unable to practice all week — he couldn’t even travel with the team to Minnesota because of the timeframe per NFL Network’s Tom Peliserro — but he was able to participate in group meetings virtually while in isolation. As a 12-year veteran, and the fact that the Lions have already played seven games, it shouldn’t take Stafford much time to get back in rhythm with his teammates.

“I think if you called Matt Stafford on an April day and said, ‘Hey, we’re going to go play a 60-minute football game,’ he’d be able to go out there and rip it,” coach Matt Patricia said about Stafford. “He’d be fine. He’d see defenses. He’d see coverage. He’d be doing all the right things. He’s a great vet. He knows how to play the game.”

Linebacker Jarrad Davis and practice squad safety Jalen Elliott both remain on the reserve/COVID-19 list at this time.

Detroit Lions place Jalen Elliott on the reserve/Covid-19 list

The Detroit Lions announced they have placed practice squad safety Jalen Elliott on the reserve/Covid-19 list.

The Detroit Lions announced they have placed practice squad safety Jalen Elliott on the reserve/Covid-19 list. This is his second stint on the reserve/COVID-19 list, after being placed on there on July 29th and not coming off until August 14th.

After not having a player land on the reserve/COVID-19 list all season, Elliott is now the third Lions player placed on the list in as many days, with Jarrad Davis being placed there on Tuesday and Matthew Stafford landing there on Wednesday. All three players’ situations are reportedly entirely independent of one another.

As a practice squad player, Elliott’s addition to the list does not impact the Lions active roster but does free up a spot on the practice squad if the Lions wanted to add a player as he moves through the league’s protocol.

As has become standard practice, the Lions released the following statement with their confirmation, reminding everyone that being placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list does not mean a player tested positive:

This reserve list category 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 t comment on a player’s medical status other than referring to roster status. Clubs may not disclose whether player is in quarantine or is positive for COVID-19.

Kelly Stafford: Entire Stafford family tested negative for COVID-19

Matthew Stafford needs 5 days of negative tests to return to the Lions

Kelly Stafford offered some positive news for Detroit Lions fans on her Instagram story feed on Thursday. She stated that the entire Stafford family, including husband – and Lions starting quarterback – Matthew have tested negative again for COVID-19.

“Okay y’all, I appreciate everyone reaching out and giving us well wishes,” Stafford posted, with a mask dangling from her ear. “We are fine. We are all negative (for COVID-19). My husband is negative. There was just a certain exposure. We have all been testing since the exposure.”

Her post comes a day after Matthew was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list by the Lions due to his exposure. If Stafford tests negative five days in a row after Monday’s initial exposure, he will be able to play in Week 9 in Minnesota. Wednesday was the first date of those tests.

[lawrence-related id=53280]

 

Cowboys place Dalton on reserve/COVID-19 list

Andy Dalton will miss his second straight game as he has been placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list.

When Andy Dalton took over as the Cowboys starting quarterback after Dak Prescott suffered a season-ending ankle injury in Week 5, he surely didn’t imagine it would go the way it has recently. In a Week 7 loss to the Washington Football Team, Dalton suffered a vicious hit from linebacker Jon Bostic and has been in concussion protocol ever since.

The 10-year veteran was dealt another blow on Tuesday. According to ESPN’s Todd Archer, Dalton has been placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list.

This particular list is designated for any player that has either tested positive for COVID or been in close contact with an infected person.

The Cowboys offense struggled mightily with Dalton at the helm. After averaging 32.6 points per game with Prescott the Cowboys offense produced a total of 13 points in Dalton’s two starts.

Seventh-round rookie Ben DiNucci may now make his second consecutive start, and he hopes it’s better than his first. He was 21 of 40 for 180 yards with no touchdowns and a slightly above average 64.6 quarterback rating.

[listicle id=657248][lawrence-newsletter]

Falcons activate DE John Cominsky from reserve/COVID-19 list

The Falcons announced on Friday that DE John Cominsky has returned to the active roster from the reserve/COVID-19 list.

The Atlanta Falcons activated rookie defensive lineman Marlon Davidson from the reserve/COVID-19 list on Monday. Then on Friday, just a day after the team’s Week 8 win over the Carolina Panthers, the Falcons announced that DE John Cominsky has returned to the active roster as well.

Cominsky was the last remaining Falcons player on the COVID-19 reserve. The team can certainly use him with DE Takk McKinley injured and reportedly on the trade block.

[lawrence-related id=60234,60147,60227,60104,60146,60222]

[vertical-gallery id=60235]