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Godchaux removed from reserve list
DT removed from COVID-19 reserve list because his test produced a false positive
Miami Dolphins defensive tackle Davon Godchaux tested positive for coronavirus last week, but his stay on the team’s COVID-19 reserve list lasted just two days.
And he has a pretty interesting explanation why he was allowed to return so quickly.
According to Godchaux, who organized the team’s players-only offseason workouts this summer, his blood work previously disclosed that he had contracted the virus in June and possessed the antibodies for it. So when a test turned up “invalid” or “inconclusive” last Wednesday, prohibiting him from entering the team’s training facility, the former LSU standout was certain his stay on the COVID-19 list would be shortlived — much like nearly a dozen other Dolphins players who were added to the list the past two weeks before being quickly removed.
“I knew it was a false positive,” said Godchaux, who has started 37 of the 47 games he played for the Dolphins the past three seasons. “I didn’t think I had it because the antibodies already said that I had it back in June
sometime.
“When I first saw it, I was like this can’t be right. I got the second and third test, and both were negative. I’m glad the NFL fixed it.”
Godchaux is referring to the NFL’s ever-changing protocol regarding COVID-19 testing. In these newest changes, “point of care (POC)” testing was established to differentiate the falsepositive results from the positive ones. It’s designed to address those players who have some remnant of the virus that is no longer active.
There was “a gray area in the league’s existing protocol,” according to a letter directed to every NFL team from Dr. Allen Sills, the NFL’s chief medical officer.
So the NFL instituted a more in-depth test to verify an initial positive test, and it will determine a player’s virus load in less than an hour. If the POC test is negative, then another daily swab test will be give. If that test is negative, the player can be removed from the COVID-19 reserve list.
“Once you test positive you have a test the next day where you can get it cleared,” Godchaux said. “A lot of guys are going to be screwed in season if you test positive on Friday and have to [produce] two negative [tests]. You’re going to miss Sunday’s game. I’m glad they fixed it.”
The Dolphins have placed numerous veterans and rookies on the COVID-19 list, but most have been quickly removed from it. That indicates they either had an inconclusive test or had previously had the virus but had recovered from it — yet tested positive for it on a random day because of their virus load.
The only players still on the Dolphins’ COVID-19 reserve list are offensive guard Ereck Flowers, who has been on the list since Aug. 2, and cornerback Xavien Howard, who tested positive Tuesday and is quarantining.