It’s been a wild week for NFL players and coaches testing positive for COVID-19 thanks to the arrival of the Omicron variant and it appears that New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton is among those who will miss this weekend’s slate of games.
Saints’ HC Sean Payton has tested positive for Covid-19.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 17, 2021
Payton will miss the Saints’ game this Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In his place, defensive coordinator Dennis Allen will assume head coaching duties. Per Adam Schefter, Payton is expected to be back in time for the December 27 game against the Miami Dolphins.
Saints’ DC Dennis Allen will assume the HC duties for the December 19th game vs Tampa Bay. Payton is expected to return to coach the December 27th game against the Miami Dolphins.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 17, 2021
Payton was the NFL’s first known positive test for coronavirus back in March 2020 as well.
Payton was in the news earlier in the week when the trailer for Home Team, Netflix’s movie based on his year-long suspension, was released. Instead of being an insightful drama about the impact of BountyGate, it appears the film will be a goofy family comedy, which was made very clear by the casting of Kevin James as Payton.
As such, reactions to the news that Payton would be unable to coach this weekend were met with some very similar reactions in NFL circles.
Really should’ve just gotten this guy to fill in pic.twitter.com/IsDES6QuUB
— Kevin Pulsifer (@imPULSEivity) December 17, 2021
His replacement https://t.co/5oO7G3dIFQ pic.twitter.com/9e0v9jW89D
— Shane Corrigan (@shaneco9) December 17, 2021
You ready, @KevinJames? https://t.co/uxS6Lmv3Fm
— Sports Talk Garage Podcast🎙 (@SportsGaragePod) December 17, 2021
Kevin James coming in this week. https://t.co/lQYYm2BkcQ
— Rich Hribar (@LordReebs) December 17, 2021
Someone get Kevin James on the phone immediately. https://t.co/UbEyYQelKt
— Faux John Madden (@FauxJohnMadden) December 17, 2021
Schefter got it wrong. It's actually Kevin James who tested positive. It's just hard to tell because they look so much alike. https://t.co/g3xGDzu7qC
— JJ Zachariason (@LateRoundQB) December 17, 2021
We suppose that if you’re looking for similarity between Sean Payton and Kevin James, we finally found one. Neither will actually be coaching the New Orleans Saints this weekend.