NFL teams will expand the use of PCR kits to include gameday testingGETTY IMAGES
The NFL in a memo to teams last night said that it "has augmented its COVID-19 testing protocol to include game-day testing for all players, coaches and some other employees of each team," according to Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com. The league "has been using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) kits to test upward of 8,000 people every week." Those classified as Tier 1 or Tier 2 "have been tested every day except on game day, in part because PCR tests wouldn't be returned in time for kickoff." But teams "will now make arrangements to conduct tests at team hotels in the morning, and they will take multiple members of their BioReference testing staff on road trips to facilitate tests." Other changes this week in the NFL's protocol include that masks "must be worn during all walk-through practices" while coaches "must wear masks or double-layered gaiters during games." They "can wear a face shield in addition to, but not in lieu of, other face coverings." NFL security also "will begin conducting protocol compliance checks starting in Week 7." Teams "will be required to supply internal video upon request" (ESPN.com, 10/12). PRO FOOTBALL TALK's Mike Florio wrote daily, off-site PCR testing is "smart and overdue." The league's protocols "already contain multiple donut holes, due to the incubation period and the lag between sample collection and result." By not testing players on game days, the league "precluded itself from learning whether someone had flipped from negative to positive between Saturday and Monday, for a Sunday game" (NBCSPORTS.com, 10/12).
DOING THE BEST THEY CAN: In Boston, Steve Hewitt notes in Patriots coach Bill Belichick's weekly Monday appearance on WEEI'-FM's "Ordway, Merloni & Fauria" show, he was "mostly diplomatic about the league's handling of the pandemic." Two of the Patriots' games "have been moved due to positive tests." The NFL once again "shut the Patriots' facility down Sunday after their fourth positive test," forcing the Broncos-Patriots game "to be moved another week." Belichick said, "Everybody's doing the best that they can and we’re trying to make good decisions for the health and safety of everybody involved with the team -- not just the players, the coaches, the staff and everybody else, and certainly the players are the most important part of the game, but we're trying to look out for everybody." Belichick added that the Patriots "didn't have any influence in the decision to postpone the game" (BOSTON HERALD, 10/13).
LEARNING THEIR LESSON: The AP's Arnie Stapleton notes Raiders coach Jon Gruden "wore the face covering properly in all but three of the 50 times he was shown" on the Raiders-Chiefs CBS broadcast Sunday, and during two of those transgressions he "quickly pulled it back over his nose." That represented a "180-degree switch for Gruden, one of five NFL head coaches fined $100,000 last month for failing to abide by the league's mask rules." The other coaches "who were dinged -- and their teams docked $250,000 -- for shoddy mask also learned their expensive lessons." Saints coach Sean Payton "was wearing his mask properly 32 of 35 times he was shown on the telecast last week against the Lions, and 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan was 100% in compliance during the 35 times he was shown" against the Eagles (AP, 10/13).
