Three more go on COVID list
The NFL’s surge in coronavirus cases this week swelled again.
The surge began Monday, when the NFL discovered 37 positive tests, the most in any single day this season. The number of people added to the league’s COVID-19 reserve list has since inflated to over 100. The Texans added three more players to their COVID-19/reserve list Thursday. The franchise now has eight total players who have tested positive within the past week, their largest outbreak yet this season.
The NFL responded by introducing new mandates that include masking regardless of vaccination status, requiring meetings be held remotely or outdoors, and banning in-person meals and outside visitors while a team is traveling. The league also “strongly” encouraged vaccinated players, coaches and staff to get booster shots to combat the increase in cases and the advent of the Omicron variant.
“All of these changes are grounded in our data and science-backed approach,” the league’s statement read, “with safety our number-one goal for the entire NFL community.”
The announced changes did not include an increased frequency of testing. Browns center JC Tretter, the acting president of the NFL Players Association, released a statement
Wednesday that quoted an argument made in September that pressed the NFL to test players daily. The NFLPA has pushed for months to increase league policies that only require teams to test weekly, and Tretter’s comment read, “For up to six days, the virus spreads throughout the facility with no one knowing.”
Coach David Culley said Wednesday that the Texans are almost fully vaccinated. Former linebacker Zach Cunningham, who was released last week and claimed by the Titans, and current linebacker Eric Wilson were the only players who aren’t vaccinated, Culley said.
Only the Washington Football Team (19), Browns (13), Rams (13), Bears (10) and Giants (eight) have more active players on the COVID-19 reserve than the Texans. Three of Houston’s players who tested positive — cornerback Terrance Mitchell, linebackers Christian Kirksey and Kamu Grugier-Hill — are starters.
Grugier-Hill was among those who tested positive. Kirksey, reserve safety A.J. Moore and reserve defensive lineman DeMarcus Walker were placed on the COVID reserve Wednesday. Mitchell was added to the list Thursday, along with reserve safety Terrence Brooks and practice squad corner Cre’Von LeBlanc.
Safety Eric Murray approached the podium wearing a mask, an extra precaution taken during a week in which COVID-19 positives have surged across the NFL. The whole team wore masks during their indoor walk-through Wednesday, another precautionary measure that goes beyond league policies that have already tightened since the holiday season began.
“You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do to protect yourself,” Murray said. “I’ve got kids, me personally. So anything that’s available for me to protect them, I’m gonna do that.”
Beyond the health concerns, the Texans now have substantial depth issues at linebacker, safety, cornerback and running back. The NFL expanded practice squad rosters from 10 to 16 to give NFL teams more flexibility during the pandemic, and it’s likely the Texans will be fielding plenty of practice squad players on Sunday in Jacksonville.
Texans running backs David Johnson and Jaylen Samuels were both added to the COVID-19 reserve after weekly tests revealed they were positive on Saturday, and, although Johnson’s was a false positive, he was required to sit out of the game against Seattle. The Texans played with just two running backs, and, when Rex Burkhead injured his hip in the second half, they were down to one.
Burkhead practiced with limitations Thursday, and, while his status remains questionable against the Jaguars, the Texans added former TCU running back Darius Anderson to the practice squad.
“The changes we’ve made are the changes the NFL require us to make,” Culley said. “Usually all those changes come down from the league office, and once the league office gives us those changes, then we actually go by those changes. There’s really not anything else we can do. I think our people here, our staff does a great job with everything we need to do to prevent this thing from happening.”