As the NFL enters the closing stretch of the 2021 schedule, the league has been rocked by COVID-19 in a way it hadn’t since the coronavirus pandemic began.
On Monday, the NFL had 37 total positive player tests, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, that was the highest number of positive tests since the start of the pandemic. That number was eclipsed Tuesday when another 38 players tested positive, bringing the total to 75 in just the first two days of the week.
The number of players added to Reserve/COVID-19 lists hasn’t slowed since, with the Cleveland Browns, Los Angeles Rams and Washington Football Team among the hardest hit—all teams fighting for playoff positioning.
Today was the NFL’s highest number of player positives since Covid began.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 13, 2021
In response, the NFL is rescheduling games. Schefter reports that the Browns’ game against the Las Vegas Raiders will be moved from Saturday to Monday. Washington’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles, and the Rams’ game against the Seattle Seahawks will both be moved from Sunday to Tuesday.
Seahawks at Rams, and WFT at Eagles both are now expected to be rescheduled for Tuesday, per sources.
If the postponed games had been cancelled, players would not have gotten paid for the week.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 17, 2021
This comes a day after NFL adjusted its COVID-19 protocols:
”Effective immediately, all clubs will implement preventative measures that have proven effective: masking regardless of vaccination status, remote or outdoor meetings, eliminating in-person meals, and no outside visitors while on team travel. We will continue to strongly encourage booster shots as the most effective protection. Finally, and based on expert advice, we will adjust the return-to-participation requirements for those who have recovered from COVID-19. All of these changes are grounded in our data and science-backed approach, with safety our number-one goal for the entire NFL community.”
New memo on the NFL and NFLPA’s adjusted COVID-19 protocols pic.twitter.com/wC98yqlVUQ
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 16, 2021
Below is a glimpse into why such measures were necessary; a look at this week’s games involving teams in the playoff hunt and which impact players from those games recently landed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list. This will be updated as more information becomes available.
