Photos surfaced on social media of Washington quarterback Dwayne Haskins partying without a mask at a nightclub following his team’s loss to the Seahawks on Sunday. The NFL has strict guidelines with regards to player safety, and any incident deemed “high risk COVID-19 conduct” being punishable by either a fine of one week’s salary or a four-game suspension.
Haskins apologized on Twitter for his irresponsible actions and it appears the team has worked something out with the NFL to allow the quarterback to practice. Haskins took first-team reps on Wednesday, just one day after news broke of possible punishment for Haskins.
Dwayne Haskins is on the field and taking the 1st team reps in a walk-thru portion. Allowed to practice, league and team worked out a plan so he could participate.
— John Keim (@john_keim) December 23, 2020
Coach Ron Rivera is “hopeful” that Alex Smith will be healthy enough to play on Sunday against the Panthers, but his status will be monitored closely leading up to this game; Smith did not practice on Wednesday. If he’s unable to play, Haskins could get the start once again, pending possible discipline from the league for his actions.
The league and the team are both gathering information on the matter, but the fact that Haskins is allowed to practice suggests this may not have been deemed a high-risk incident.