NFL Struggles to Tackle COVID-19 Protocols
posted by Antonio Mitchell | October 9, 2020 | In News, SportsThe NFL plans to keep its players and staff safe from the virus by giving its players the option to either play to get paid or stay home with salary implications.
The majority of the players decided to play except for a few players like Dont’a Hightower from the New England Patriots, Marquise Goodwin from the Philadelphia Eagles, Devin Funchess from the Green Bay Packers, Damien Williams from the Kansas City Chiefs and more. The majority of the players that opted not to play because of family considerations, which brought the NFL teams to readjust their final roster of 53 players and their game-plans if the player that decided to opt-out was one of their starters.
The NFL tested players and personnel in two different groups. In tier 1 testing, it was players and essential personnel that were around players on a regular basis. Tier 2 were the personnel who were in close proximity to players and other tier 1 individuals who may need access to restricted places periodically.
COVID-19 hit the NFL hard in week 3 of their season with 8 positive cases in the Tennessee Titans, 5 of which were personnel and 3 cases were players. This news caused the NFL to reschedule the matchup between the Tennessee Titans and the Pittsburgh Steelers. The NFL commissioner sent out a memo that urged the Titans to follow the COVID-19 protocols to try and minimize risk whenever possible. This caused the Titans to close down facilities for the whole week. Then the Tennessee Titans had four more players test positive, which caused this week’s opponent, the Buffalo Bills, to be rescheduled to October 13.
The Titans were not the only team who had positive cases. The New England Patriots’ quarterback, Cam Newton, tested positive for COVID-19, as well. This caused the Patriots’ game for Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs to be rescheduled for Monday night. The NFL has started an investigation on the Tennessee Titans to see if they followed COVID-19 protocols during their quarantine, once the investigation is over, the Titans could face major punishment if the team did not follow proper protocol during their time in quarantine.
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