Practice squad lineman placed on COVID-19 list

The Bears have placed offensive lineman Badara Traore on the COVID-19/reserve list, the team announced Saturday.

This is the first Bears player on the COVID-19/reserve list since early August, shortly after players reported to training camp. The list is for players who either have tested positive or been in close contact with someonewhohas. ESPNpreviously reported Saturday that a practice squad player had tested positive and contact tracingwas underway.

The Bearswere last together as a team Thursday nightwhen they beat the Buccaneers 20-19 at Soldier Field, but practice squad players are not allowed in the locker room or on the sideline on game days. The Bears players have the weekend away from Halas Hall because of the Thursday night game.

Bears coach Matt Nagy talked about the team’s COVID-19 precautions last week amid a rash of positive tests in the NFL, most notably 23 within the Titans organization. Two games— the Broncos at Patriots and the Bills at Titans — have been rescheduled this week because of positive tests.

“It wakes you up for sure,” Nagy said.“We’vedoneapretty good job here, and the players are — I don’t know if I would use the word ‘annoyed’ — but we stay on them pretty consistently. We are persistent in regards to nagging them (about) the masks always being on … when I can mandate that when we are inside. When we are outside, wearing them as much as you can as well. They’re not forced to wear them in practice. … When you really think about it, it’s really not that hard to put a mask on. Just wear your mask and wear it all the time.”

NFL players, coaches and staff are required to wear a Kinexon contact tracing device that measures a person’s close contacts while within team facilities.

That allows staff to quickly conductcontact tracingwhena positive test arises. Those people are then quarantined and tested.