Covid rules out Browns head coach for team's first playoff game in 18 years
The Cleveland Browns will be without their head coach when they make their first playoff appearance in 18 years this weekend.
The team announced that Kevin Stefanski, two members of his coaching staff and two players have tested positive for Covid-19. The Browns are due to play their divisional rivals, the Pittsburgh Steelers, in the first round of the playoffs on Sunday. The Browns beat the Steelers in the final game of the regular season last weekend to clinch their place in the postseason. The Steelers have not said whether any of their coaching staff or players have tested positive for the virus.
The NFL will not reschedule the game as it said earlier this season that it will not move games for competitive reasons during the pandemic. League rules state that anyone testing positive Covid-19 must sit out for at least 10 days.
The team said that its training facilities is closed while contact tracing takes place. “We were informed this morning that Head Coach Kevin Stefanski, two additional members of the coaching staff and two players have tested positive for COVID-19,” the Browns said in a statement on Twitter. “Our contingency planning calls for Special Teams Coordinator Mike Priefer to serve as the acting Head Coach.”
The Browns already have experience of playing through a Covid outbreak. They were without six starters last weekend due to positive tests for the virus, and were also forced to field a weakened team against the New York Jets last month.
The news comes during a rare upbeat run in the Browns’ recent history. They last made the playoffs in the 2002 season, when they lost to the Steelers in the wildcard round. Since then they have recorded just two winning seasons.