NFL This week’s game between New England and Super Bowl champions Kansas City Chiefs has been postponed after “positive COVID-19 tests on both teams”. Patriots starting quarterback Cam Newton and Chief Practice Squad quarterback Jordan Ta’amu were both added to the NFL’s COVID-19 reserve list released on Saturday afternoon.
The NFL said Saturday that the game, scheduled for the original Sunday at 4:25 p.m. EDT, will be played Monday or Tuesday, which will only be possible if the disease does not spread widely on the rosters.
Newton has started all three games for England. Ta’amu did not appear in the game, but would have spent time in meetings with Super Bowl MVP Pat Mahoms and other QBs of the team.
Newton’s agent did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Associated Press.
This is the second game this weekend to be affected by Covid-19. After the Titans erupted, the match between Pittsburgh and Tennessee was postponed – originally for a day or two and then until October 25, when positive tests accumulated.
To fit it, the Steelers’ game against Baltimore that day was postponed to Nov. 1, that day.
The Patriots were considering moving to Kansas City on Saturday afternoon. Instead, players left the facility waiting for more notifications. The team said in a statement that the COVID-positive player had entered self-contamination and that players, coaches and staff in close contact with him were tested on Saturday morning and all were negative.
Newton is now unavailable when he quarantines, Brian Hoyer is expected to start in his place. He has been Newton’s backup in the previous three games.
Newton has to decide how long he has been outcasts.
According to the NFL guidelines, for players who test positive and show symptoms, at least 10 days must pass between the time the symptoms first appeared and the symptoms must last between 72 hours. In that scenario a player will probably lose at least two games.
But if a player tests positive and is asymptomatic, he can only return 10 days after the initial positive test or if he performs two negative tests in a row, only five days.
Earlier this week, the Patriots’ defensive midfielder Dev Dev McCurty said the league could evolve with overconfidence after training camps without major outrage and after building in the first two weeks of the season.
He said, “But at the end of the day, we’re in an epidemic, so what happened in Tennessee, though shocking to us, isn’t really surprising. I think we all knew that at some point we could get some positive tests.
“So it’s like this, ‘This got us,'” he said. “I think this is a little shocking, but it’s a wakeup call, like ‘Hey, the virus is still here and its impact will affect anyone. It doesn’t matter if we’re trying to play football.’
If the game is played on a Tuesday night, it binds the chiefs significantly. They are due to play the Las Vegas Riders the following Sunday, followed by a Thursday night match in Buffalo four days later. That means the defending Super Bowl champion could face the prospect of playing three games in just nine days.
It’s also possible that the NFL Bill-Chiefs could rearrange the game, giving Kansas City some relief.
“I honestly feel like we have an organization that has done an excellent job. They are responsible to each other. Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahoms said the team’s effort this week is to keep the players healthy. “I mean, it’s something that can happen to anyone. Don’t pay attention to who you’re going with, but it’s going to be like 2020 in the world. “
Mahoms praised Chief Trainer Rick Berkhholder, who helped the NFL develop its testing and protocol before the start of the training camp, in which the atmosphere, coaches and staff create a safe environment.
“Rick and his staff and the whole organization have done a great job of keeping us socially isolated, wearing masks – even when people try to slip and don’t wear them, make sure they wear masks and we hold each other accountable. , ”Mahoms said. “Then accept whatever you do. I’m just going to make sure we emphasize it. Make sure we continue to wear our masks, keep social distance and try to prepare ourselves so that we do not harm anyone else or ourselves. “
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