Tampa Bay Buccaneers kicker Ryan Succop has tested positive for COVID-19 just days after having dinner indoors with Tennessee Titans players, head coach Bruce Arians revealed on Tuesday.
Succop’s positive test also comes on the heels of Titans head coach Mike Vrabel testing positive for the virus, which he revealed on Sunday.
“All contacts [with Vrabel] were outside. We had one that went to dinner with some guys that did test positive today,” Arians said, per ESPN’s Jenna Laine. “He went to dinner with some Titan friends. That was Ryan Succop. So he’s out for this game.”
In a Zoom presser with the media on Tuesday, Vrabel said he didn’t know which players had been out to dinner with the Bucs kicker, who is also a former Titan.
It also isn’t clear when the dinner took place, but Tennessee and Tampa Bay did have joint practices on Wednesday and Thursday, and then a preseason game on Saturday.
Mike Vrabel says he's not aware of what #Titans players went to dinner with #Bucs K Ryan Succop in Tampa.
— TURRON DAVENPORT (@TDavenport_NFL) August 24, 2021
Tennessee placed two more players on the Reserve/COVID-19 list earlier in the day — linebacker Nick Dzubnar and running back Jeremy McNichols. The Titans now have three players on the list after defensive lineman Anthony Rush was placed there on Monday.
Adding to the concern, John Glennon of Broadway Sports noted that special teams coach Craig Aukerman, who was running practice while Vrabel was out, didn’t appear to be at practice on Tuesday. However, it isn’t clear if Aukerman’s absence was COVID-19 related.
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To the best of my knowledge, #Titans special teams coach Craig Aukerman was not at practice today.
–Worth noting, considering COVID-19 has sidelined Vrabel, and that 3 players are on reserve/COVID list. Cannot say definitively whether Aukerman's absence is COVID related.— John Glennon (@glennonsports) August 24, 2021
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–Aukerman had delivered the team message at the start and end of practice Monday.
Vrabel had said Sunday that Aukerman was one of the coaches he felt comfortable with leading the team. He also noted that Jim Schwartz and Jim Haslett have previously been head coaches.— John Glennon (@glennonsports) August 24, 2021
When asked if any other players or coaches had tested positive, Vrabel declined to comment.
The Titans head coach says he is feeling fine and hopes to be back in time for Saturday’s preseason game in Nashville against the Bears. He must get two negative tests in a 48-hour span before he can return but has yet to receive one.
