Chiefs continue to prepare after Pats player tests positive
Things will continue as normal for the Kansas City Chiefs, who learned Wednesday that New England cornerback Stephon Gilmore had been placed on the COVID-19 list.
The Chiefs, who host the Raiders on Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium, beat New England 26-10 on Monday night. The game was postponed for a day because of a positive test from Patriots quarterback Cam Newton. With the news of Gilmore’s positive test, New England canceled practice Wednesday and today.
Gilmore, the NFL’s reigning Defensive Player of the Year, played all 56 snaps and interacted with Chiefs players — including quarterback Patrick Mahomes — following the game.
While the NFL sent out more coronavirus protocol directives following a virtual meeting Monday with commissioner Roger Goodell, Reid said the preparation during a short week was continuing unabated.
“Right now it’s kind of business as usual,” Reid said during a conference call with reporters who cover the Raiders. “The guys are being tested every day, which will continue. We have these monitors we have, too. You’re kind of able to see who was around who for extended periods of time.”
Reid said there had been no additional direction from the NFL following Gilmore’s positive test.
“We had a team meeting. We talked about playing the game, the Raiders,”
Reid said. “Other than that there hasn’t been any talk about the COVID part. Not from the league.”
Raiders coach Jon Gruden said he wasn’t interested in answering any coronavirus questions but did anyway.
“I’m really confident that everybody is doing the best they can,” Gruden said. “We are doing everything we can. We have great confidence in everybody we play that they’re doing the best they can. This is a tough situation. I admire everybody’s cooperation, working hard to prevent the spread. I’m not going to keep answering questions about this. I hate the virus. We have to rev up our intensity and our concentration on how to beat it, and that we will do.”
Gilmore said in a statement on social media he is currently asymptomatic and urged diligence in combating the virus.
“I’ve followed every protocol, yet it happened to me,” Gilmore said. “Please be sure to take this seriously.”
The Raiders on Tuesday placed defensive tackle Maurice Hurst on the COVID-19 reserve list, which could mean he tested positive or was in the presence of someone with the virus.
According to a joint press release from the NFL and NFL Players Association, 31 players and 53 other personnel have tested positive from Aug. 1 through Oct. 3 with more than 370,000 tests administered.
There’s been an upstick in cases, however. From Sept. 27 to Oct 3, 11 players and 15 other personnel tested positive. The previous week two players and four other personnel tested positive.