Patriots cease practice as NFL teams face into wave of Covid setbacks

IN SHARP contrast to the success of the NBA’s Covid bubble, the return of American football has continually been beset by Covid chaos.

And now one of the NFL’s most successful organisations has been crippled by an outbreak as The New England Patriots are again regrouping due to the pandemic.

New England cancelled yesterday’s practice and media availability and are conducting meetings virtually.

New England is preparing to face Denver in a game that originally was rescheduled from October

11 to October 12 in Week 5, and subsequently postponed to Week 6 because of Covid-19 concerns related to the positive tests of cornerback Stephon Gilmore and one additional Patriots player, which came nearly a week apart.

The new positive test arrives one day after Cam Newton – New England’s quarterback and first confirmed positive of the 2020 season – returned to practice Thursday after testing positive near the beginning of October.

The Indianapolis Colts too closed their practice facility yesterday after several members of the organisation were Covid positive.

The Colts did not say how many tests had been positive and added that they were in the process of confirming the results.

Indianapolis is scheduled to host the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday.

The Colts said in a statement that the team will work remotely while their facility remains closed.

The shutdown follows a similar move on Thursday by the Atlanta Falcons, who closed their facility after a second positive test.