While at least one other team deals with an outbreak of COVID-19 within their organization, the Baltimore Ravens got their first virus scare last week.
Defensive tackle Derek Wolfe didn’t play in Week 4 against the Washington Football Team not only because of an elbow injury but because he was flagged for COVID-19 symptoms. According to coach John Harbaugh, the team’s doctors held him out as a precaution, even though he didn’t test positive for the virus.
“Wolfe got flagged for symptoms. His wife had been traveling and they both got sick, so our doctors held him out and away from the team there. He didn’t have COVID but they held him out for symptoms.”
This has the be the shining example the NFL would like to use for the rest of the league. Even though Wolfe didn’t test positive, the team was overly cautious and took precautions to protect the other players, coaches, and front-office staff from potentially catching something. Sure, it hurt that Wolfe wasn’t able to play, but the end result is a team that hasn’t had a public case of COVID-19 since the start of the regular season.
On the flip side, we’ve seen the Tennessee Titans have an outbreak that has infected up to 23 people at this point. The is NFL currently investigating Tennessee for protocol violations which has led to several schedule changes already, including moving Baltimore’s Week 7 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers to Week 8.
