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There have been quite a few COVID-19 impacts on the NFL this year, including several postponed games, other games that faced a threat of postponement (but eventually went ahead), players who have missed games thanks to tests or quarantine, and fines for teams and coaches over COVID-19 protocol violations. And this week has seen a lot more.

This week, quarterbacks Matthew Stafford (Detroit Lions) and Andy Dalton (Dallas Cowboys) were both placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list thanks to positive tests from people around them. Denver Broncos’ general manager John Elway and team president Joe Ellis both tested positive as well. And the Baltimore Ravens have eight players on the reserve/COVID-19 list, adding to their injury issues.

Beyond that, the Thursday Night Football pairing of the Green Bay Packers and San Francisco 49ers has faced COVID-19 issues. Packers’ running back A.J. Dillon tested positive earlier this week, and other players who were close contacts of him were put into quarantine. And the 49ers shut down their facility Wednesday following a positive test from receiver Kendrick Bourne. (As of now, though, that game is still set for Thursday.) And, on an overall front, the weekly testing numbers from last week are in, and they feature a whole lot of confirmed positive tests. Here’s more from the Associated Press:

NFL and NFL Players Association data for the week of Oct. 25-31 show eight new confirmed positive COVID-19 tests among players, and 17 new confirmed positives among other personnel.

A total of 42,916 tests were administered to 7,884 players and team personnel. There were 16,814 tests administered to 2,511 players; 26,102 tests were administered to 5,373 personnel.

During this period, players and Tier 1 and 2 personnel were tested daily. Tier 3 individuals were tested weekly. Individuals who test positive are immediately isolated. 

As that piece notes, the total tests for Aug 1-Oct 31 show 63 players and 99 other personnel confirmed with positive cases. The 63 players represent 3.7 percent of the 1,696 active roster slots across the league.

[The Associated Press at ESPN.com]

 

About Andrew Bucholtz

Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.