For the third time in 10 days, the New England Patriots have had their facility shut down due to a positive test for COVID-19.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that the latest positive test came in on Saturday night and that a Week 5 game between the Patriots and Denver Broncos, which was already pushed from Sunday to Monday night, is now in jeopardy.
Patriots’ one positive test this morning now makes it four positive tests over the past eight days. The game vs Denver already had been pushed from Sunday to Monday night, and it now is in question. https://t.co/9ev4woeO4B
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 11, 2020
The Patriots re-opened their facility on Saturday and held a practice and team meetings, but all were conducted outdoors out of an abundance of caution.
“One thing that we’ve learned this year repeatedly has been we have to be ready to adjust and adapt to changes and modifications in the way we do things,” Patriots head coach Bill Belichick told reporters on Saturday. “We’re certainly taking things day by day, probably hour by hour would be more accurate.”
Quarterback Cam Newton, cornerback Stephon Gilmore and practice squad defensive tackle Bill Murray are all currently on the COVID-19 reserve list after testing positive. And at least in Gilmore’s case, his positive test was traced back to a dinner with Newton, who originally tested positive on October 3.
Prior to Sunday’s shut-down, the Patriots had gone three straight days without a positive test.
For now, Monday night’s game remains on schedule, but there will be additional tests throughout the day and everything is subject to change.
NFL still plans to play Monday’s Broncos-Patriots game, source tells ESPN. There is further testing this morning in New England, it takes a few hours to get back those results, but as of now the league expects to have more answers later today, with the game played Monday.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 11, 2020
