#BreakingNews: Patriots-Broncos moved to Week 6 after another positive COVID test
Another positive COVID-19 case has the NFL rescheduling another game during Week 5.
The New England Patriots and the Denver Broncos game that had been previously moved to Monday has now been rescheduled again after the Patriots had someone else test positive Sunday morning, sources tell ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The matchup will now be moved to next Week 6 when the Patriots were going to have a bye week and the Broncos were supposed to play the Miami Dolphins. The Patriots closed their practice facility today as well after just reopening Saturday from being closed since Wednesday.
The person that tested positive is unknown. QB Cam Newton, CB Stephon Gilmore, and DT Bill Murray are the only known players that are currently on the Patriots reserve, COVID-19 list.
This is just the latest game in the NFL’s constant reshuffling of games. The first major outbreak in the NFL came from the Tennesee Titans after their Week 3 game against the Minnesota Vikings. The Titans recorded nearly two dozen positive cases since that game while the Vikings had zero. This led to the NFL postponing the Titans-Steelers game slated for Week 4, which has now caused games to be moved all around the NFL’s schedule. The league is now currently investigating whether the Titans had broken the league’s safety protocol after they found out the Titans players had worked out at their facility during the outbreak.
Broncos RB Melvin Gordon was not pleased with the NFL’s decision to postpone Sunday’s game:
A conversation now circling around the league is whether teams should be forced to forfeit games due to outbreaks in their organization. Many people believe that the Titans should be the first team to have to forfeit a game after people found out about their possible violation. The Patriots from what we know haven’t done anything similar to the sort that could have led to another positive test
With all the positive cases league-wide the NFL could be in jeopardy of being canceled. Patriots CB Jason McCourty questioned Saturday whether the NFL has made player safety a top priority. "I think outside of here, the people that don't have to walk in our building -- whether it is the league office, whether it is the NFLPA -- they don't care," McCourty said. "For them, it is not about our best interest, or our health and safety, it is about, 'What can we make protocol-wise that sounds good, looks good, and how can we go out there and play games?” One thing for sure, the NFL needs to contact the NBA and NHL about their bubble soon or we could be seeing more outbreaks as we head into Flu season.
Stay tuned for more NFL news.
