With nearly three months of the NFL season underway, the league appears to have had one of its first league-wide COVID outbreaks. For most of the season, there have been reports of individual players or teams testing positive or outbreaks of disease. Due to this year’s policy, a number of players – most notably Aaron Rodgers – missed out on COVID quarantine.
Cases across the league have steadily increased over the past two days, with more than half of the positives revealed in two days as reported in the first few months of the tournament’s competition in 2021:
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The league also hit a record high for cases diagnosed in a single day on Monday: 37 positive tests.
Today is the NFL’s highest number of active players since Covid began.
– Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 13, 2021
In addition to those tests, there are 29 other tests on Tuesday, reported 75 players in total in the past two days. With this season’s bye weeks in the books, teams could be abbreviated and reduced to key contributors with little time to get them ready for the big playoffs for both. AFC and NFC are both huge.
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Sporting News has a list of all the players who have joined the protocols since then:
NFL players in league COVID protocol
The listed players only reflect the official team roster as of 9:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, December 14.
Atlanta Falcons (three players)
- OLB Emmanuel Ellerbee
- DB Cornell Armstrong
- OLB Quinton Bell
Baltimore Ravens (single player)
Buffalo Bills (two players)
- LB Tyrel Dodson
- LB AJ Klein
Carolina Panthers (single player)
Chicago Bears (five players)
- DE Mario Edwards
- Burning artist DB
- NT Eddie Goldman
- LB Sam Kamara
- CV Elijah Wilkinson
Cincinnati Bengals (single player)
Cleveland Browns (six players)
- G Drew Forbes
- TE Austin Hooper
- WR Jarvis Landry
- DE Takkarist McKinley
- G Wyatt Teller
- T Jedrick Wills
Dallas Cowboys (single player)
Houston Texans (two players)
- LB Kamu Grugier-Hill
- RB Jaylen Samuels
Indianapolis Colts (single player)
Kansas City Captain (single player)
Los Angeles Chargers (two players)
- LT Rashawn Slater
- G/C Scott Quessenberry
Los Angeles Rams (11 players)
- CB Jalen Ramsey
- OT Rob Havenstein
- DB Dont’e Deayon
- WR Odell Beckham Jr.
- DB Terrell Burgess
- TE Brycen Hopkins
- DB JuJu Hughes
- T AJ Jackson
- NT Sebastian Joseph-Day
- S Jordan Fuller
- RB Darrell Henderson Jr.
Miami Dolphins (four players)
- S Jevon Holland
- RB Phillip Lindsay
- RB Myles Gaskin
- RB Salvon Ahmed
Minnesota Vikings (seven players)
- RB Alexander Mattison
- WR DeDe Westbrook
- WR Dan Chisena
- DE Danielle Hunter
- RB AJ Rose Jr.
- OG Kyle Hinton
- WR Trishton Jackson
New England Patriots (one player)
New York Giants (two players)
- WR Kadarius Toney
- CV Wes Martin
New York Jets (two players)
- DB Justin Hardee
- QB Mark White
Philadelphia Eagles (four players)
- WR Quez Watkins
- RB Jason Huntley
Tennessee Titans (two players)
- WR Dez Fitzpatrick
- S Jamal Carter
Washington football team (10 players)
- DT Jonathan Allen
- LB David Mayo
- DE William Bradley-King
- TE Temarrick Hemingway
- DB Kendall Fuller
- DT Tim Settled
- LB Khaleke Hudson
- DE James Smith-Williams
- DE Montez Sweat
- DE Casey Toohill
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NFL COVID Vaccine Rules
This is the COVID protocol for vaccinated players, according to the NFL:
- Vaccinated individuals who test positive and are asymptomatic will be isolated and contact tracing will be performed promptly.
- The positive individual will be allowed to return to duty after two negative tests at least 24 hours apart.
- They will then be tested weekly or as directed by medical staff.
- Vaccinated individuals will not be isolated due to close contact with an infected person.
The main difference between vaccinated and unvaccinated players is that vaccinated players don’t have to worry about being in close contact with “high risk” at any given time. They also have more freedom to participate in activities than their unvaccinated counterparts. Vaccinated players can go out and easily spend time with teammates outside of the facility, among other perks.
What is the NFL’s COVID protocol for unvaccinated players?
The NFL’s COVID protocols are stricter than those for vaccinated players. They are as follows, according to the NFL:
- If an unvaccinated person tests positive, the procedures from 2020 will still be in effect. The person will be quarantined for a period of 10 days and will then be allowed to return to duty if there are no symptoms.
- Unvaccinated individuals will continue to be subject to a five-day quarantine period if they come into close contact with an infected individual.
Unvaccinated players also have more procedures that they must follow to avoid falling under the COVID protocol. These include the following:
- Unvaccinated individuals must be tested for COVID daily at the team facility. If a player misses even one day of testing, they will be required to test negative for COVID for five consecutive days before re-entering the facility. That’s what happened to Cam Newton before the final week of the Patriots’ pre-season.
- Unvaccinated free agents must also test negative for five consecutive days before being allowed into the team facility.
- Unvaccinated players must wear masks at all times in the facility. They cannot congregate in groups larger than three players, and en route “are prohibited from gathering, visiting, or socializing with individuals outside of the tour group once they have arrived in the game city.”
- Unvaccinated individuals will be penalized for violating COVID protocols. This could include anything from not wearing a mask in the facility or going to an indoor concert or house party with more than 15 people.
When is a player considered fully vaccinated?
The NFL considers a player to be fully vaccinated if they fall into either of the following categories. They were removed 14 days from the last dose of Pfizer, Moderna, or the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, or they had prior COVID and were removed 14 days from a single dose of any vaccine.
Will the NFL postpone games because of COVID?
The NFL has left open the possibility of a postponement. That said, the federation has said that “a postponement will only occur if requested by a government agency, medical professional, or at the discretion of the Commissioner.”
Of course, the NFL has also said that it hopes to play the full, 272-game schedule “in a safe and responsible manner,” so it seems likely the league will consider a postponement when appropriate.
However, the NFL has noted that the burden of the postponement or cancellation will fall on teams with COVID spikes among unvaccinated players. If an outbreak breaks out among vaccinated players, the federation will seek to “minimize the burden” on that club.
If a match is canceled/postponed because the club is unable to play due to a spike in Covid numbers or because of their unvaccinated players/staff, the burden of the cancellation or delay will rest with the club. Ministry is infected with Covid. We will find a way to minimize the burden on the opposing club or club. If a club is unable to play due to a spike in the number of individuals being vaccinated against Covid, we will endeavor to minimize the economic and competitive burden on both participating teams.
What does it mean? If a team has an outbreak that affects unvaccinated players, they are less likely to receive a favorable verdict from the NFL. As such, they may be forced to play in a significant shortfall or at a less convenient time.
The NFL has also stated that if a game cannot be rescheduled during the 18-week season due to a COVID outbreak among unvaccinated players, the affected team will be forced to stop playing.
In addition, the federation said that “matches will not be postponed or rescheduled simply to avoid roster issues due to injury or illness affecting many players, even within a single position group.” mind.” That principle was implemented last year, and the Broncos are the best example of that principle. They had to play with training team receiver Kendall Hinton as their quarterback after their defender’s room became infected with the virus.
Will the NFL extend a week because of COVID postponed?
No, it’s not planned. The NFL confirmed that it hopes not to extend the regular season past 18 weeks (17 games and bye).
: We do not anticipate adding a “19th week” to offer games that cannot be rescheduled within the current 18 weeks of the regular season. “
Perhaps the NFL will change its tune if COVID becomes a bigger problem than the league predicts, but for now, don’t expect the league to extend another week to the season.
