NFL updates COVID-19 protocols as rates rise
The NFL is requiring players and staff to wear masks inside team facilities regardless of vaccination status for a week starting on Thanksgiving, and they must be tested twice for COVID-19 after the holiday.
The league’s protocols were updated as a result of increasing rates of COVID-19 across the country. Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger each missed a game in consecutive weeks because of COVID-19.
There were 34 new confirmed positive tests among players and 47 new confirmed positives among club personnel in the latest testing period from Oct. 31 to Nov. 13. Dr. Allen Sills, the NFL’s chief medical officer, said in a conference call Wednesday the league had its highest number of cases last week.
“This upward trend, coupled with the onset of colder weather driving individuals indoors, has resulted in an increased risk of infection among players and staff,” the league said in a memo sent to teams Tuesday and obtained by The Associated Press. “Our experts and data confirm that getting vaccinated remains our strongest defense against contracting and transmission of the virus within club facilities.”
As of Wednesday, 94.3% of NFL players and nearly 100% of NFL personnel are vaccinated. Overall, 30 of the league’s 32 teams have an overall vaccination rate of 95% or higher.
“Because we have a heavily vaccinated population, we are seeing fewer cases than in society, and those who test positive have milder illness,” Sills said. “We’re not seeing an uncontrolled spread among teams.”
Sills also said vaccinated players who contract COVID-19 are testing back in sooner than the 10-day window in a substantial number of cases. Those players are permitted to return after six days of quarantine if they have two negative tests 24 hours apart and no symptoms.
BROWNS’ MAYFIELD IS ‘BEAT UP’, NOT PRACTICING >>
Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield did not practice Wednesday in hopes of letting several injuries heal
so he can play this week against the winless Detroit Lions.
Mayfield has played most of the season with a torn labrum and fracture in his left, non-throwing shoulder. He suffered a bruised right knee in Sunday’s loss to New England, which came a week after he hurt his left foot at Cincinnati.
“This is probably the most beat up I’ve ever been in my career, and it’s not like it’s one particular thing, it’s multiple,” said Mayfield, who limped slightly as he walked to the podium to speak with reporters.
LIONS QB GOFF SITS OUT
WITH OBLIQUE INJURY >> The Detroit Lions held out Jared Goff from Wednesday’s practice after the starting quarterback suffered an oblique injury in last week’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
His absence raises questions about his availability for Sunday’s against the Cleveland Browns.
“He’s going to sit today,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said on Wednesday. “And then we’ll reassess tomorrow and see how he’s feeling.”
Goff, who said he was more sore than expected this week, ended up finishing Sunday’s game, which was a 16-16 tie. The Lions quarterback was only able to complete 14 of 25 passes for 114 yards. On Wednesday, he admitted the injury affected his throwing motion against the Steelers.
“There were definitely some limitations there that I don’t know if I realized it in the moment,” Goff said. JUDGE ORDERS RUGGS BACK TO COURT >> A Las Vegas judge ordered former Raiders receiver Henry Ruggs III to appear before her on
Monday after learning he missed a required alcohol test while on house arrest following a fatal crash he’s accused of causing by driving drunk at speeds up to 156 mph.
Ruggs’ lawyers told Justice of the Peace Suzan Baucum that Ruggs “self-tested” negative shortly after missing one of his calls for a breath test last week.
Ruggs’ attorney, David Chesnoff, blamed the delay on trouble with testing equipment.
Ruggs, 22, was not in court for the brief hearing Wednesday during which Baucum also told his lawyers she won’t issue a subpoena for fire department records about the fatal Nov. 2 crash and fire. The judge said the attorneys can get those records on their own.
Ruggs could face a return to jail. A judge who set his bail at $150,000 warned Ruggs directly that if he didn’t comply with release restrictions he faced rearrest.
USFL MANAGEMENT TEAM TAKING SHAPE >> Fox Sports rules analyst Mike Pereira and game analyst Daryl Johnston will be part of the United States Football League’s senior management team when the league debuts next spring.
Pereira, who will be the head of officiating, was the NFL’s vice president of officiating for six seasons before retiring after the 2009 season. He has been with Fox Sports since 2010.
Johnston will serve as the executive vice president for football operations. This will be his third experience with a spring league after serving front office roles for two teams in the Alliance of American Football and XFL.