BALTIMORE — Ravens wide receiver Dez Bryant wrote on Twitter on Thursday that he has tested negative for the coronavirus twice since being ruled out of Tuesday night's highly anticipated reunion against the Dallas Cowboys, his former team.
“I tested negative back to back for covid and I’m not excited about it,” Bryant said.
Dr. Allen Sills, the NFL’s chief medical official, said Wednesday that Bryant’s daily molecular PCR test administered Tuesday morning returned an inconclusive result and a retest of the sample returned another inconclusive result.
Bryant, who was on the field at M&T Bank Stadium two hours before kickoff and was seen speaking to multiple players on the field, was removed from the field and administered a point-of-care PCR test, which returned a positive result. He was then sent home to quarantine, while the team ruled him out with an illness 30 minutes before kickoff.
After Bryant tested positive, the NFL determined through its contact-tracing process that there were no “high-risk” close contacts, who would’ve had to miss the game, a 34-17 Ravens win.
Ravens coach John Harbaugh, who spoke to reporters about an hour before Bryant said he has tested negative twice, said Bryant was “surprised” and “stunned” when he spoke to him after the game.
“I think he’s a little stunned by it, surprised that it came up. So that’s where he’s at,” Harbaugh said. “I think he’s trying to work his way through it right now.”
The Ravens have yet to place Bryant, who was not seen at practice Thursday, on the reserve/COVID-19 list. Under NFL protocols, any player who tests positive for COVID-19 must self-quarantine for at least 10 days, unless he is not showing symptoms, five days have passed since the initial positive test and he returns two consecutive negative PCR virus tests at least 24 hours apart within that five-day period.
In a stream of tweets during Tuesday’s game, Bryant appeared to indicate that he would quit the rest of the season but later backtracked from those comments.
Harbaugh said that Bryant, who was signed to the active roster Nov. 28 and has recorded four catches in three games, remains an “option” for the offense whenever he returns.
“He’s certainly an option. He’s a part of our team,” Harbaugh said. “I was really happy with his progress and how he was practicing. I was excited for him to play in the game, very excited. I saw him before the game and we were both fired up for the game, he was super fired up for the game and excited.
“I don’t think it’s hard to understand why it would be such a hard thing emotionally, especially with where he’s at in his career. I think we could all put ourselves in his shoes on that, for sure. I’m very sympathetic toward that and very understanding of it.”
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Baltimore Sun reporter Jonas Shaffer contributed to this story.
