A day after seeing strength and conditioning coach Barry Rubin test positive for COVID-19, the Chiefs are once again affected by the pandemic while on a first-round playoff bye.
The Chiefs placed rookie defensive end Mike Danna on the reserve/COVID-19 list, according to Wednesday’s NFL transactions report.
A player landing on the list doesn’t necessarily mean he tested positive. Instead, the player could be considered a high-risk contact after exposure to someone who did test positive.
It is unclear which scenario applies to Danna. But if he is a high-risk contact, Danna will need to undergo the league’s mandated protocols requiring five days of isolation with negative tests before being allowed to return to the team’s training facility.
Chiefs coaches, players and staff members are undergoing daily COVID-19 testing protocols.
Danna, the Chiefs’ fifth-round pick of the 2020 NFL Draft, becomes the 12th known person affiliated with the team, either player or staff, to be affected by COVID-19 since the start of the 2020 regular season.
He joins linebacker Anthony Hitchens, wide receiver Mecole Hardman, fullback Anthony Sherman, defensive tackle Chris Jones, right tackle Mitchell Schwartz, left tackle Eric Fisher, offensive lineman Martinas Rankin and former practice squad quarterback Jordan Ta’amu and defensive tackle Braxton Hoyett as players placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list.
Hitchens was the most recent, landing on the list on Dec. 22, after being categorized as a high-risk contact. Hitchens, who missed the final two regular-season games, was not listed on Tuesday’s transactions report. But the starting linebacker tweeted earlier in the afternoon he was back at the facility, a sign that he cleared the protocols.
Rick Burkholder, who serves as the Chiefs’ vice president of sports and performance and the team’s infectious control officer, tested positive for COVID-19 in early November.
The COVID-19 pandemic has claimed more than 352,000 lives in the U.S. alone, according to the CDC.
In other roster-related news, the Chiefs brought back tight end Ricky Seals-Jones to the practice squad.
Seals-Jones originally joined the team on a one-year deal during free agency before being released in Week 17.
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