Colts open practice facility again

After the Colts closed their practice facility after four COVID tests came back positive, four retests came back negative and the building reopened.

Coach Frank Reich did not identify who had the false positives but acknowledged if it wasn’t a player, it was someone who worked closely with the players. He did say the four were kept out of the facility.

Reich had started making contingency plans to play the Bengals on Monday or Tuesday, and also rearranged Friday’s schedule. Meetings were conducted virtually and after the second set of results came back, the Colts went through a lighter-than-normal practice at team headquarters while wearing masks.

“It just made sense that we could jog through, get all the looks we needed to get, get our bodies going a little bit, get the heart rate going a little bit but not going full speed,” Reich said. “It would have had to been masks under the helmet, so I just felt like it was the right thing to do — not go full speed with the mask under the helmet.”

The Browns, who played the Colts on Sunday, had zero positive tests Friday morning and their building was open. The negatives included one for star wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., who was ill and sent home Thursday and not allowed to practice Friday.