The COVID-19 outbreak spreading through the NFL has finally caught up to the Seahawks as the team announced Thursday morning it has placed receiver Tyler Lockett and running back Alex Collins on the COVID-19 reserve list.
There had been 96 players placed on the list around the league from Monday through Wednesday, the highest three-day total in the last two seasons. But none had been Seahawks, and Seattle was one of six teams as of Wednesday afternoon not listed as having a player currently on the list.
The Seahawks have had only one other player on the list this year, tight end Gerald Everett, who missed two games in October.
Lockett and Collins have been confirmed as being vaccinated with Lockett having told reporters in June he had gotten vaccinated, saying while he didn’t want to tell teammates what to do “I made the best decision that was right for me and my family. And so I ended up getting it. But all I can do is just tell them what I know and tell them why I decided to get it. But I can’t force somebody what they want to do with their life.’’
Seattle plays Sunday at 1:25 p.m. against the Rams in Los Angeles.
The two players were said to have tested positive.
NFL rules require vaccinated players to have two negative tests 24 hours apart to be able to return to play as long as they are also asymptomatic. But the two tests would have to come by Saturday as the NFL is no longer allowing players to test negative on gameday and then play.
That rule was changed after Seattle’s experience with Everett, who had gotten a negative test on Thursday when the Seahawks played the Rams on Oct. 7 but could not get it approved by the league in time. It was decided that some teams had geographic advantages to getting tests approved on gameday, so the rule was changed.
However, there have been reports that the NFL could ease the protocols on returning to play, possibly as soon as this week, to require players to have only one negative test.
The Seahawks will not leave for Los Angeles until Saturday, as is custom for games against teams in the Pacific and Mountain time zones.
Lockett wore a mask during the period of Wednesday’s practice open to the media.
Lockett is the team’s leading receiver with 62 catches for 1,023 yards and on Sunday became only the second player in team history to go over the 1,000-yard mark in three straight seasons other than Steve Largent, who did it twice.
Collins is Seattle’s leading rusher with 411 yards on 108 carries but has battled an abdomen injury of late and was the backup to Rashaad Penny for Sunday’s 33-13 win at Houston.
Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said when he met the media before Wednesday’s practice the team had not had any negative tests to that point — Seattle tests players on Monday and Wednesday.
Carroll on Wednesday said the team could have tested just on Monday but stuck with its two-tests-a-week plan.
“We had a choice this week with all that is going on, what if we test Wednesday and all of a sudden someone pops and can’t play in the game,” he said. “We went right back to the philosophy and the character that stands behind the decision making that we would be better off if we found out that somebody was positive on this Wednesday, that would help us Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and until the Monday exposure. That could help our guys stay safe better, if we tested again like we had been as opposed to let’s not do it and not be tapped going into the game. Fortunately, that’s why there was a decision to be made there and that’s why I’m uplifted by the way we’ve done it and continue to do it.”
Sunday’s opponent, the Rams, had 16 players on the list as of Wednesday including notable starters such as receiver Odell Beckham Jr., running back Darrell Henderson and cornerback Jalen Ramsey.
The outbreak caused the Rams to close their facility earlier this week go into the NFL’s intensive protocols, meaning doing basically everything virtually other than practices.
Carroll said this week the Seahawks would further emphasize their COVID-19 protocols, including the wearing of masks and social distancing.
On Wednesday, Carroll said he was proud of his team for continuing to largely avoid placing anyone on the list, while acknowledging that “it’s a big challenge. And we aren’t doing it perfectly, we are struggling with it too, like everybody else is.”
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