NFL reschedules SteelersTitans; Ravens’ bye nowWeek 7
NASHVILLE, TENN. » The Tennessee Titans now know when they are rescheduled to play the Pittsburgh Steelers after the first NFL game postponed by a COVID-19 outbreak.
Getting back into their own building depends on the resultsof continuedtesting. TheTitans’outbreakexpanded by two more players testing positive Friday, pushing the team’s total to 14 within the past week.
The outbreak forced the NFL to postpone Tennessee’s game from Sunday to Oct. 25 in Week 7, forcing the Steelers into their unplanned bye. Pittsburgh now will play Baltimore on Nov. 1 with the Ravens’ bye now pushed to Week 7 instead of Week 8, which had been the bye for both teams.
Officials from the NFL and the players’ union also were inNashville onFriday, meetingwiththeTitansand reviewing the way the team is handling the matter. The NFL and the players’ union also agreed to continue daily testing, including bye weeks, for the foreseeable future in a decision shared with teams Friday.
Coach Mike Vrabel has said he’s very confident that the Titans have followed the league protocols precisely and that nobody was to blame for this outbreak during a pandemic.
“We continue to follow protocol from the NFL that was set forth, and that continues to change and adapt and adjust,” Vrabel said Thursday. “Whatever the NFL tells us that we’re required to do and we’re supposed to do as positive tests come in, that’s what we’ll do.”
The NFL already had postponed the Titans’ game Sunday against Pittsburgh. That came a day after the league said it hoped the teams would play Monday or Tuesday. But another positive test result Thursday led to the postponement and Friday’s rescheduling.
Then two additional positive test results came inFriday, a person told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because neither the NFL nor the Titans had announced the latest results. Each new positive test requires the team’s infectious control officer to track down everyone in contact with those people.
The Minnesota Vikings (0-3) again had no positive test results Friday, leaving them on target to visit Houston (0-3) on Sunday as scheduled after losing 31-30 to the Titans last week. The Viking returned to work and practice at their facility on Thursday.
The Titans (3-0) instead find themselves on an unexpected bye, hoping to return to work inside their own building Monday or Tuesday. But further testing could delay that return, and more positives could jeopardize the Titans’ next scheduled game Oct. 11 against the Buffalo Bills in Nashville.
With the NFL rescheduling their game with the Steelers, the Titans announced Friday that capacity will be expanded as well from the planned 10%, or about 7,000, to 15% with 3,000 more seats available.
Tennessee’s outbreak started with a defensive back on the practice squad added to the reserve/COVID-19 list on Sept. 24. Then outside linebackers coach Shane Bowen’s test result came back positive on Saturday, preventing him from traveling with Tennessee to Minnesota.
On Tuesday, the Titans placed three players on the reserve/COVID-19 list, including defensive captain and linemanDaQuan Jones and long snapperBeauBrinkley, with five other team personnel testing positive. Outside linebacker KamaleiCorreabecame thefourth player on that list Wednesday, and rookie cornerback Kristian Fulton became the fifth Thursday.