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Timeline of the NFL COVID-19 outbreak: How positive tests led to postponed games

Oct 3, 2020

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    • Covered Eagles for USA Today
    • Covered the Ravens for Baltimore Times
    • Played college football at Cheyney University

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The NFL knew it would likely have to deal with the coronavirus pandemic at some point when it proceeded with the 2020 season.

“At the end of the day, the safest teams and the healthiest team this year is going to be the one that’s going to be playing in January and February. We can only control what we can control,” Tennessee Titans safety Kevin Byard said in August.

The Titans became the first NFL team to experience a COVID-19 outbreak. The number of positive tests is now up to 18, and the Titans’ game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, originally scheduled for Sunday, has been postponed. The Titans maintain that they have adhered to NFL/NFLPA protocols and procedures.

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Contact tracing was initiated as soon as positive tests were received, according to Titans coach Mike Vrabel. Players and select team employees wear a proximity recording device that tracks interaction with others who wear the device. Anyone who was in close proximity to a person who tests positive is subjected to multiple tests. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the coronavirus has an incubation period that can last up to 14 days. An infected person can be contagious up to 72 hours before they even begin showing symptoms.

While the Titans were the first team to be affected, they weren’t the last. Here is a timeline of how everything unfolded for the Titans and the NFL leading up to Saturday’s decision to postpone the

Outside linebackers coach Shane Bowen didn’t make the trip to Minnesota after testing positive for the coronavirus. George Walker IV/The Tennessean via AP, Pool

“When you try players out, they go through a process of testing and quarantine before you work them out, and then when you work them out, you decide to sign them or not, and then they’re into the testing protocol,” Vrabel said Thursday. “At that point in time, when he tested positive, we went through and followed the protocol and he was removed from the facility.”

Sept. 26: Titans outside linebackers coach Shane Bowen tests positive. The Titans received Bowen’s positive test last Saturday morning. Bowen didn’t make the trip to Minnesota when the Titans played the Vikings.

“When we get the results early in the morning, Todd [Toriscelli, director of sports medicine] and his staff and Adrian [Dixon, assistant athletic trainer] begin the contact tracing. They do the follow-up testing and then we proceed from there with the protocol as it relates to any of the positives that would come up,” Vrabel said Thursday. “There’s a POC test which happens, and we’re very confident that we’ve followed the guidelines with the protocol that the league and the players’ association have set forth as it relates to identifying those persons of close contact and by using the tracing devices.”

Atlanta Falcons cornerback A.J. Terrell was placed on the Reserve-Covid list. Contact tracing to other players and personnel members didn’t produce any positive tests so the Falcons were cleared to play the Chicago Bears.

Sept. 27: Titans play the Vikings in Minnesota. The Titans defeated the Vikings with Vrabel calling the defensive plays in place of Bowen, who did it for the first two games.

No Vikings have tested positive since the Titans game.

Sept. 28: News breaks of Bowen’s positive test. Vrabel confirmed that Bowen had a positive test and didn’t make the trip to Minnesota. He said that Bowen wasn’t with the team and that the Titans had followed NFL/NFLPA procedures.

“I’d say we’ve followed all the protocols as it relates to COVID,” Vrabel said. “We’re following the hundred memos that they’ve sent out verbatim.”

Titans’ positive tests: one player, one team personnel member

Sept. 29: Titans have eight more positive tests. The Titans received new positive tests from three players and five staff members. They placed defensive lineman

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Oct. 1: Two more Titans test positive; NFL postpones Steelers vs. Titans. The Titans placed cornerback Kristian Fulton on the reserve/COVID list. An additional unnamed team personnel member also tested positive.

According to a statement, the NFL’s decision to move the game to a later date was made “to ensure the health and safety of players, coaches and game day personnel.”

Vrabel told the media the Titans were “very confident that we’ve followed the guidelines with the protocol that the league and the players’ association have set forth.” The Titans’ facility remained closed. All players, coaches and select team members continued testing while the team was on its bye week as a result of the postponement.

Vrabel delivered news of the postponement to the Titans during a virtual team meeting at 8:30 a.m. The Titans turned their attention to their Week 5 opponent, the Buffalo Bills.

“We had a squad meeting to inform the team that, in light of the two recent positive tests that we had, the NFL had made the smart and safe decision to postpone our game, and that we would be on a bye week starting now,” Vrabel said. “[We] reminded them to not gather with each other, players and staff, until we can find a safe way to enter in back to our building … hopefully which would happen Monday or Tuesday, [and] we would then [begin] preparation against Buffalo.”

The NFL also issued a memo with enhanced protocols for teams to follow after exposure to the coronavirus — including two daily tests. PPE and face masks must be worn by all players and coaches on the practice field, and gloves must be worn by everyone except quarterbacks on their throwing hand. All meetings must be virtual, and there will also be daily deep cleanings of the facility. The protocols also prohibit team or player gatherings away from the facility.

Titans’ positive tests: six players, seven team personnel members

Oct 2: Two more Titans test positive; NFL reschedules Steelers vs. Titans for Week 7. The Titans placed wide receivers Adam Humphries and Cam Batson on the reserve/COVID list.

Both the Titans and the Steelers now have Week 4 as their bye week. Officials from the NFL and NFLPA visit Nashville to look into the outbreak further.

The NFL released another memo, this time outlining procedures during the bye week and “testing cadence.” The statement reminds players there is a $50,000 fine for missing a test. A second missed test results in a one-game suspension.

Any player who misses a daily test without authorization during the bye week must have five negative PCR tests (taken 24 hours apart) before reentering a team facility.

Titans’ positive tests: eight players, seven team personnel members

Patriots quarterback Cam Newton has tested positive for the coronavirus and is out for the team’s Week 4 game against the Chiefs. Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

Oct. 3: Multiple NFL positive tests. The Titans received another positive test for a player — defensive end