BALTIMORE — The Ravens ruled out wide receiver Dez Bryant for Tuesday night's game against the Dallas Cowboys about 30 minutes before kickoff because of an illness, minutes after Bryant wrote on Twitter that he tested positive for COVID-19.
"Tell me why they pull me from warming up so I can go get tested ... my (expletive) come back positive ... I tested positive for Covid WTF," he wrote.
Fox Sports, which is broadcasting the game, reported that Bryant had an inconclusive test returned from earlier in the day. Doctors pulled him from the field to retest him at the stadium and the point-of-care PCR test returned positive. Bryant was sent home, according to the report, and the Ravens ruled him out for the game with an illness.
"The crazy thing is i have the same damn routine ... . this (expletive) do not make sense to me," Bryant tweeted.
The NFL said that no Ravens players were identified as high-risk close contacts.
"Contact tracing was conducted from yesterday and today using the contact tracing device and the standard interviews. There were no high-risk contacts identified," an NFL spokesperson said. "This is a scenario that had been contemplated during the development of the protocols and one the league, clubs and NFLPA planned for. The protocols worked."
The CDC defines close contact as living in the same household, being within six feet of someone for at least 15 consecutive minutes, or being in direct contact with secretions from a sick person with COVID-19, such as being coughed on. The NFL has been operating under its intensive protocol since Nov. 18, which calls for, among other restrictions, all players and coaches must have a negative from the previous day's testing before entering the facility, in addition to regular daily PCR testing; all meetings being held virtually unless they can be held outdoors or indoors with a pre-approved plan; and for face masks being worn at all times at the facility, including on the practice field by all personnel.
Bryant, wearing a neck gaiter pulled up above his nose, was on the field at M&T Bank Stadium catching passes hours before his highly anticipated reunion with Dallas, where he spent the first eight seasons of his career and became the franchise's all-time leader in touchdown catches. He was not with the team during pregame warmups.
However, Bryant was photographed greeting several Cowboys players on the field. He later questioned the NFL on Twitter about why the game was allowed to take place on schedule.
"Since I tested positive for Covid before the game do the game stop or go on? @NFL," he wrote.
Bryant also indicated that he wouldn't return to the team, which signed him as a free agent last month. He joined the 53-man roster last week.
"Yea I'm going to go ahead and call it a quit for the rest of the season ... I can't deal with this," he tweeted.
The Ravens have not placed a player on the reserve/COVID-19 list since rookie safety Geno Stone last Tuesday, which ended a 10-day streak incited by a coronavirus outbreak in the organization that affected players, coaches, staff and their family.
Ravens president Dick Cass said in a statement Saturday that a "highly contagious" strain of COVID-19 and noncompliance with NFL protocols led to the outbreak.
