The Baltimore Ravens announced cornerback Marlon Humphrey had tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday. The positive test had actually come back from just before Sunday’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Unfortunately for the Ravens, it was previously reported that six other players had come into close contact with Humphrey as well, which would cause them to go into isolation per the NFL’s COVID-19 protocols.
According to ESPN’s Jamison Hensley and The Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec, the Ravens will place the following seven players on the Reserve/COVID-19 list.
- CB Marlon Humphrey
- CB Terrell Bonds
- OLB LB Matthew Judon
- OLB Tyus Bowser
- LB Patrick Queen
- LB L.J. Fort
- LB Malik Harrison
- S DeShon Elliott
So far, only Humphrey has tested positive for COVID-19, meaning he’ll be out for at least 10 days. The other six players were considered “high-risk close contact” cases and must isolate from the team for a minimum of five days as long as they don’t present any symptoms or test positive over that time.
While not ideal, there’s a chance all six “close contact” players will be cleared in time for Sunday’s game against the Indianapolis Colts. Unfortunately, there’s also a chance any or all of those players could show symptoms or test positive and Baltimore will be short-handed for Week 9 around its entire defense. When added to the team placing left tackle Ronnie Stanley and right guard Tyre Phillips on injured reserve, there’s a very real chance the Ravens could be missing as many as nine major contributors and starters Sunday.
