Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen was among the players on the team that went through the ringer of COVID-19 false positive test results in the NFL this past week.
According to reports, 77 NFL players from 11 teams had false positive test results for COVID. Essentially is what happened is a lab being used by the Bills and 10 other teams in New Jersey had the mix up, telling certain players, like Allen, they had contracted coronavirus when they, in fact, did not.
With the state of things in the world now, what a couple of hours that must have been for those 77 individuals, right?
On Monday after the mixed up results weekend, the Bills got back on the practice field. Allen was among players able to get back out there. Following the training camp session, Allen, speaking via video conference broke down what exactly took place. He said the situation started with a phone call at 6 a.m. Saturday informing him that he had tested positive for COVID-19.
“Obviously it’s nothing you want to hear and I’m sitting there like… I mean, I feel fine, there’s nothing wrong,” Allen said.
Then Allen had to head to the team’s facility and get another test done. Sort of a double checking for coronavirus. That rapid-response test which gives you results in 15 minutes came up negative and that’s when things started to get questioned.
“All of a sudden all this stuff about the NFL… about 11 teams that were affected or whatever, so,” Allen said. “Obviously it was super frustrating that I wasn’t here yesterday. Those are reps I can’t get back.”
Still, while disappointing, the Bills said the team used the opportunity as a learning experience. Unfortunately, the United States isn’t in the clear with the coronavirus pandemic. When the Bills’ regular season starts on Sept. 13 against the Jets, this will still be an issue. But in that light, general manager Brandon Beane said the Bills used what happened over the weekend as a type of “fire drill.” If there’s a similar scare during the regular season, the Bills already have this experience in their back-pocket and will have confidence in dealing with the situation.
Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott gave rave reviews of the organization’s handling of this drill over the weekend. The player response especially impressed the coach.
“I give the players and staff a lot of credit. They were very positive with their approach. They went out and were resilient yesterday. And so… what appeared to be a very negative situation on the surface, the way we handled it, the way our players handled it in particular, we… to me it was a positive. It was a growth opportunity for our team,” McDermott said.
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