More Covid problems for the NFL this morning
This morning it has been reported that two additional Titan players have tested positive meaning their practice facility remains shut down and putting this week's game against the Bills in serious doubt.
In addition to that bit of news it has also been announce that New England Patriots CB Stephon Gilmore has tested positive which has resulted in the Pats cancelling practice today.
https://www.nfl.com/news/patriots-cb-stephon-gilmore-tests-positive-for-covid-19
And if that wasnt bad enough - check out who Stephon was hugging at the end of last Thursday's night game. Yikes!
https://brobible.com/sports/article/pats-stephen-gilmore-coronavirus-patrick-mahomes/
October 7th, 2020 at 9:48 AM ^
Given how grueling the NFL season is on the players, I wonder if not practicing during the middle of the season is really that big of a deal. Might even be beneficial if you have a more veteran roster. They can still do film study and all that even if they're not practicing.
I seem to remember an anecdote from a Pistons broadcast during the Grant Hill days about when he was a kid how family time on Mondays and Tuesdays during the season was to put ice on his dad for the whole day. Oof.
October 7th, 2020 at 9:52 AM ^
From the looks of it, the lions haven't been practicing at all.
October 7th, 2020 at 9:57 AM ^
All part of the plan. They're going to choose a few random weeks to practice and then catch the other team by surprise because they'll play so much better that week. Don't want to put the good stuff on film just yet.
October 7th, 2020 at 1:00 PM ^
The New York Giants have no COVID problems. They just suck. They are so, so bad.
October 7th, 2020 at 1:47 PM ^
The Giants have 4 fuckin Super Bowl trophies...you'll get no sympathy from Lions fans.LOL
October 7th, 2020 at 2:52 PM ^
And their super bowl winning quarterbacks were Phil Simms, Jeff Hostetler and Eli Manning (2x.)* I mention this for all the Lions fans complaining they need to get a franchise QB. Stafford is good enough to win if you surround him with a great defense and a dominant offensive line. Detroit had their fare share of superstars, they’ve just never built a team around them.
*This is also known as the “Trent Dilfer.”
October 7th, 2020 at 5:58 PM ^
Jabril on that team makes me sad as well
October 7th, 2020 at 10:02 AM ^
It really depends on how long the break is. More than about 4 days in a row if nothing and you start to lose the very high level of conditioning. Even if you are able to keep conditioning alone you will still start to fall off after a week or two without the constant pushing of full speed practice and games. It may not matter in the first quarter but a half step or two slow in the second half will cost the game.
Then there’s the loss of focus and repetition of plays and technique.
October 7th, 2020 at 2:34 PM ^
Exactly some rest is good, but too much such that you get out of shape or out of rhythm is a bad thing. I think they manage the rest pretty well during the season (Mondays off, Tuesday walkthrough only, etc etc) so anything that throws off their meticulous planning is presumably a bad thing.
October 7th, 2020 at 12:10 PM ^
I read about some track and field athletes who are setting PRs because of the enforced recovery time, lack of meets etc. during the lock-down.
October 7th, 2020 at 12:14 PM ^
When I ran track, once meets started, practice was really technical and non-labor intensive. I know I performed better when my legs were rested during the season, but I was a sprinter/hurdler with shitty lungs from pneumonia. Can’t comment on distance running.
October 7th, 2020 at 3:32 PM ^
One of my best friends was an elite middle distance runner. Out of season in high school and college he'd run up to 50 miles a week. In season he'd maybe do 10, including all of his sprint work.
It was great for me because during his season I'd actually go run with him and get in great shape. Trying to keep up with a guy who could do sub 50 second 400m splits was exhausting.
October 7th, 2020 at 5:14 PM ^
Oh yea, F that. My lungs told me 400M was long distance.
October 7th, 2020 at 5:50 PM ^
Two of us used to run in relay to help him train because no one person at the school could run fast enough. I'd start with him and then our best 100 guy would do the last 200 with him to work on his kick.
If I remember right, his PR in college in the 400 got down to about 48 seconds.
I absolutely enjoyed it more when he switched to half marathons and 5K's. Made it a lot easier to work out with him. But even then he'd go off and do his serious training on his own. He eventually qualified for the Boston in the first starting group. That was way out of my league.
October 7th, 2020 at 8:55 PM ^
My high school friend, track teammate and classmate not only ran but actually won the Boston Marathon, and would have run the Olympic Marathon contestant if not for the US boycott of the Moscow Olympics.
He's now a member of the U of M Athletic HOF.
October 7th, 2020 at 9:50 AM ^
I believe I've seen that title — "More Covid problems for NFL" — before.
October 7th, 2020 at 9:52 AM ^
Deja vu all over again?
October 7th, 2020 at 9:56 AM ^
Good point. I should've titled my thread "NFL Covid Problems - 10/7/2020" to make sure people know it's today's Covid problems versus yesterday's Covid problems.
Or make it a sticky? Or even a snowflake thread perhaps?
FWIW I KNEW the NFL would run into serious problems as soon as it became apparent my Cleveland Browns might actually be good this year.
October 7th, 2020 at 9:58 AM ^
Poor damn Browns
October 7th, 2020 at 1:52 PM ^
Your Browns May go 8-1 and the season gets shut down for COVID reasons...Welcome to 2020!
October 7th, 2020 at 4:04 PM ^
I meant to make a joke, not criticize you. Your title was perfectly appropriate. Plus I don't want to become one of the blog's Hall Monitors who get all huffy if things are done exactly the way they want.
October 7th, 2020 at 5:37 PM ^
With more uncertainty in the world then at any point in my life the one thing I am certain of is that somehow Covid will have the largest negative effect on the Browns of all NFL teams. It is just how the universe functions. These are the things being a lifelong Browns fan teaches you.
October 7th, 2020 at 9:56 AM ^
Kind of unfortunate for the Patriots that out of the relatively few positives the league has had (excluding TN) they lose their 2 best players.
October 7th, 2020 at 10:01 AM ^
Given their level of success the last 20 years, I doubt anyone outside of the greater New England area is feeling sorry for them.
October 7th, 2020 at 10:50 AM ^
You're underestimating the volume of front running fans.
October 7th, 2020 at 3:20 PM ^
Honestly, a lot of fans here in NE aren't all that broken up over it either. Mostly because this season is so wonky that you might as well get your cases in now and not, say, during the playoffs. Not that I think getting COVID-19 is a "good" thing, but this country has mishandled this situation so badly contracting the disease feels inevitable.
October 7th, 2020 at 9:58 AM ^
That Chiefs v. Pats game wasn't last Thursday night. It was Monday, as in 2 days ago. Yikes.
October 7th, 2020 at 10:10 AM ^
Thanks. I had mercifully forgotten the Jets/Broncos clash of clans was last Thursday.
I'd go back and edit my post for accuracy but.........no bueno.
October 7th, 2020 at 10:16 AM ^
Hah all good!!
October 7th, 2020 at 10:01 AM ^
Chiefs right in the middle. Not making plans to watch that game Sunday. Hopefully they can keep it from spreading further.
October 7th, 2020 at 10:02 AM ^
Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't this expected. According to the statements from the NFL several months ago, the measures they put in place were to mitigate, not eliminate, the spread within the confines of the NFL control protocols. So while they didn't literally say it, they fully expected for several players/personnel to get COVID. And knowing that these people are in a low risk group, the benefit of playing outweighed the risk.
October 7th, 2020 at 10:35 AM ^
However, I think the NFL is learning quickly that this stuff lingers and just because you got good results one day doesn't mean you go right back to normal. Tennessee is still getting positive tests. Not terribly surprising that more Pats players tested positive too. Seems like they should've delayed the NE-KC game to better contain the problem. Now what? What if you get like 20+ positive tests on NE, KC, and TN? Suddenly you're endangering the whole season
October 7th, 2020 at 11:33 AM ^
True.
I would say the severity of getting 20+ positive tests would be largely determined in how the NFL responds to it. If they follow proper procedures (i.e. quarantine, cancel games, etc.) then fine. The biggest issue IMO is not getting positive cases, but rather a death or two. Imagine if an older/overweight coach dies from it during the season.
Having some experience here, I'm not too optimistic about the US getting a readily available vaccine anytime soon, so we have to live with the virus for a while and focus on herd immunity through a "flatten the curve" approach. So it sounds weird to say, but IMO the more people who get COVID (and survive) in a controlled environment, like they are doing in the NFL, the better we are at beating this virus and moving on.
October 7th, 2020 at 12:35 PM ^
Agree.
Unfortunately, a "the more people who get COVID and survive in a controlled environment .... the better we are at beating this virus and moving on" policy isn't tolerated much by folks who are more in favor of a "zero tolerance" policy.
Thus, we're in a holding pattern.
October 7th, 2020 at 4:03 PM ^
Yep. Holding pattern indeed!
What's frustrating is that there is a sizable chunk of those "zero tolerance" folks who were once "flatten the curve" folks.
October 7th, 2020 at 4:31 PM ^
I wouldn't mind the "zero tolerance folks" as much if they simply admitted they've (1) changed their views and (2) moved the goalposts over time.
It's rare, however, to see one of those folk who will admit to that.
October 7th, 2020 at 7:42 PM ^
Hi. You have created a strawman out of whole cloth.
October 7th, 2020 at 10:03 AM ^
Looks like a Raider also tested positive this morning.
October 7th, 2020 at 10:06 AM ^
Mo Hurst
October 7th, 2020 at 10:08 AM ^
I saw that too but as of the time of my post it hadnt been confirmed nor had the player been identified so i left it out. Do they know who yet? I thought Mo was announced yesterday so this would be someone new.
Maybe the "More Covid Problems for the NFL - 10-7-2020 - afternoon edition" will pick up that one.
The hits just keep on coming......
October 7th, 2020 at 10:06 AM ^
And in Michigan need, Mo Hurst is on the covid list and apparently tested positive.
October 7th, 2020 at 10:14 AM ^
Chad Henne the backup there still? May get some playing time this year.
October 7th, 2020 at 10:36 AM ^
Hey, if he gets in and has a halfway decent game, he could buy himself another 5 years of that sweet, sweet back up QB salary somewhere
October 7th, 2020 at 10:49 AM ^
I doubt a "halfway decent" game is going to get a 35 year old backup a 5 year extension. However, I'm sure he'd gladly take another year or two of backing up the NFL's biggest superstar if given the opportunity.
October 7th, 2020 at 10:21 AM ^
There was always a chance for this to spiral, hopefully the Titans can get their ish together and Stephon didn't spread anywhere otherwise the entire NFL season may be a huge question mark
October 7th, 2020 at 10:29 AM ^
So Cam Newton tested positive, resulting in the delay of the Pats Chiefs game. The rest of the team tests negative, allowing the game to occur on Monday. Now on Wednesday, Stephon Gilmore, who played on Monday, tests positive. Was he infectious on Monday? Would a later test (i.e. one before kickoff, not in the morning) have resulted in a positive test?
I can see how this is a negative for the Big Ten's prospects of finishing the season. If the tests aren't sensitive enough, as it appears to be for the NFL tests, there will be spread of the virus. What is the Big Ten's risk tolerance here? Their green, yellow, red standards?
October 7th, 2020 at 1:55 PM ^
The problem is the incubation period. You can be infected and not test positive for a number of days. During that time you have some chance of spreading it to others.
The real problem with COVID has never been the mortality rate. It is that it is unbelievably infectious. So even if the mortality rate is not crazy high, the mere fact that it spreads so easily makes it a numbers game. A small percentage of a ton of people is still a lot of dead people.
October 7th, 2020 at 3:28 PM ^
Exactly.
October 7th, 2020 at 10:30 AM ^
I was surprised the NFL made it through the first 3 weeks with basically no issues. Will be interesting to see what happens if things start to spiral out of control and they get a lot of positive tests across the entire league. Maybe it will end up shutting down college as well but I won’t hold my breath.