AP source: Bills’ game, Pats contest rescheduled by NFL
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Bills-Titans game has been moved from Sunday to Tuesday night as long as Tennessee has no more positive tests for COVID-19 in the interim, a person with direct knowledge of the switch tells The Associated Press.
The NFL also is rescheduling Sunday’s BroncosPatriots game from Sunday to Monday night after New England had a smaller outbreak of COVID-19, the person said Thursday, speaking on condition of anonymity because the league and teams had not officially announced the changes.
Three games now have been postponed due to the pandemic: Pittsburgh at Tennessee in Week 3 was moved to Oct. 25.
Buffalo is scheduled to host Kansas City next Thursday, and that game will be rescheduled.
The Titans’ outbreak increased to 23 Thursday with tight end MyCole Pruitt and a defensive back from the practice squad put on the reserve/COVID-19 list Thursday afternoon. The Titans’ facility remains closed with the team still prohibited from any inperson activities.
Tennessee (3-0) has had
21 positive tests returned since Sept. 29, though now
13 players are on the re
serve/COVID-19 list, including four starters and a long snapper.
Titans coach Mike Vrabel has talked with reporters only once this week, and he said Tuesday that he stood by the franchise following league protocols.
The investigation by the NFL and the players’ association into how Tennessee turned into the league’s first COVID-19 outbreak found “several specific incidents” of the Titans possibly breaking protocols dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, a person with knowledge of the inquiry told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Also, Tennessee was told players could not gather together for any in-person activities either at the club’s facility or elsewhere a day before several Titans worked out at a private school, a person familiar with the situation told the AP on Thursday.
The NFL closed both the Tennessee and Minnesota facilities Sept. 29 after eight positive test results for the Titans; the Titans played at the Vikings in Week 3. A group of Titans, which included quarterback Ryan Tannehill, worked out at Montgomery Bell Academy in Nashville on Sept. 30 after getting permission from coaches at the school.
There wasn’t language in the CBA or COVID protocols related to working out after being told not to or in case of an outbreak at a team’s facility.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell warned all 32 teams Monday that following league protocols is mandatory and that violations forcing changes in the schedule could lead to being stripped of draft choices or even forfeiting games. The NFL also updated protocols on Oct. 2.
Dr. Allen Sills, the NFL’s chief medical officer, said Wednesday that the investigation looked into everything from video inside the Titans’ facility, interviewing everyone involved and even studied seating charts on buses and planes.
Sills noted they wanted to learn how to improve and the NFL already has made a number of changes.
The Patriots missed a second straight day of practice Thursday after reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year Stephon Gilmore joined quarterback Cam Newton on the reserve/ COVID-19 list Wednesday. New England also has a defensive tackle from the practice squad on the list.
New England coach Bill Belichick said Thursday the team closed its facility for the health and safety of the club. Whether the Patriots return to their facility Friday will be a medical decision rather than a football one, Belichick said.
“Things are changing very quickly so or could change very quickly. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t,” Belichick said. “We knew that at the beginning of the season that there were going to be challenges. There have been. And we’re ready to work through them. And that’s what we’re doing.”