Welcome to 2020, where everything feels different and not much makes sense.
It would have been naive for any of us to think that COVID-19 wouldn’t affect the NFL. As we saw with MLB, playing a sport outside of a bubble brings a laundry list of challenges. In addition to the fact that the players are actually tackling each other in this sport, the NFL is dealing with large rosters and staff for their 32 teams.
After three weeks of running smoothly, the Patriots ran into troubling scenarios. A week after the Tennessee Titans had an outbreak, which saw 23 total people test positive for the coronavirus, the Patriots saw quarterback Cam Newton test positive nearly two days before a game. That unleashed an avalanche of problems in New England.
The NFL and the Patriots were forced to shuffle schedules and knock players off their normal routines to try to get a handle on the virus that has infected around 7.75 million people in the United States.
The NFL, however, failed to account for the incubation period of the virus and unnecessarily put the Patriots at risk.
In many ways, it didn’t seem safe for the Patriots to travel to Kansas City for a game last week. First, the team had to fly to Missouri the morning of the game. They not only played with a backup quarterback, who didn’t get a single practice rep as the starter, but the players did so with another teammate who later was diagnosed with COVID-19.
No one knew that Stephon Gilmore had the coronavirus. According to multiple reports, the Patriots cornerback had dinner with Newton on Friday, Oct. 2. That was just before anyone learned of Newton’s positive test. The NFL allowed Gilmore to play because he tested negative on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. When you factor in this virus’ incubation period, it seems preposterous that Gilmore was even allowed to be around his teammates, never mind play in a game.
The Patriots had Gilmore on a bus with other players. They had him on a separate plane with other players who were also in close contact with Newton. Then they had the cornerback in the locker room and had him play 100% of the defensive snaps in Kansas City.
Meanwhile, the NFL’s rules on handling COVID-19 have changed. Originally, players who tested positive but were asymptomatic had to sit out at least five days. They could return when they had two negative test results at least 24 hours apart. Last week, however, the NFL revised the rule. Players don’t need to wait five days. They only need the two negative test results.
During a health pandemic, does it make sense to make it easier for a player with COVID-19 to return?
On top of that, players can be placed on the NFL’s COVID-19/Reserve list if they’ve been in contact with someone with the virus. Why was Gilmore even allowed to travel and play if he was in contact with Newton?
The Patriots total number of COVID-19 cases has now grown to four. On Tuesday, practice squad defensive tackle Bill Murray tested positive and Gilmore was the next day. The team closed Gillette Stadium on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday before reopening on Saturday. They practiced because they all had negative test results. However, the Gilmore situation teaches us that more time is needed to determine if players are healthy.
Gilmore had dinner with Newton on Oct. 2. He played on Oct. 5. It was discovered he had coronavirus on Oct. 7
What guarantee did anyone have that they’d show signs, symptoms or test positive by the team’s first practice on Saturday? The question is impossible to answer and on Sunday morning, it was discovered that Byron Cowart tested positive. This was discovered after Cowart played 17 defensive snaps in Kansas City and practiced at Gillette Stadium on Saturday.
The NFL, after pushing the Patriots-Denver game to Monday night, postponed the matchup to next Sunday. Both the Patriots and Broncos have reasons to be upset.
The Patriots were forced to travel and play with players who had the coronavirus. They held team meetings all week and practiced on Saturday only to find out that that was their bye week. The Pats will now play 12 games in a row to finish out the 2020 season. The Broncos meanwhile, practiced all week in a week that now turns out to be their bye week.
For the Patriots, playing in Kansas City never made sense. Nor did it make sense for the Patriots to practice on Saturday. It also never made sense to play on Monday evening. The NFL is clearly worried about canceling games. Money talks and we all understand that. It’s a business — plain and simple.
But COVID-19 doesn’t care about one’s bank account, football games or professional athletes. It’s a virus that’s affecting all of us in 2020. It’s a virus that’s killed a lot of people. It’s now affecting the NFL season. It’s not a surprise, but the NFL needs to make sure they prioritize player safety over games played and TV money. Their protocol needs to reflect COVID-19’s incubation period.
If they don’t, what happened with the Patriots will continue to happen. Then the league might not have to worry about canceling a random Week 5 matchup. The season will be in jeopardy and 2020 will have a fittingly disappointing end.
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(c) 2020The Providence Journal (Providence, R.I.)
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