Sep 29, 2020
Titans announce 'several' COVID-19 cases; Vikings facilities closed
The Tennessee Titans announced Tuesday morning that they have "several" positive COVID-19 positives and are "working through the process of confirming them." The Titans have suspended in-person activities, as have the Minnesota Vikings, who Tennessee defeated on Sunday,
TSN.ca Staff
COVID-19 has made its way to the NFL.
The Tennessee Titans announced Tuesday morning that they have "several" positive COVID-19 positives and are "working through the process of confirming them."
"Out of abundance of caution, the organization has decided to work remotely today as we follow NFL protocols related to the Covid-19 virus. Several tests have come back positive and are working though the process of confirming them. We will have more information tomorrow," the full statement read.
Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network was first to report that Tennessee is dealing with eight cases, three among players and five among staff members. The NFL later confirmed these figures in a statement. Both them and the Minnesota Vikings, who played the Titans over the weekend, will suspend in-person activities beginning on Tuesday.
The Vikings announced they have not had any positive cases as of Tuesday morning.
According to ESPN's Dianna Russini, Tennessee is shutting down until Saturday, meaning that no Titans coaches or players can be in their facility until then. Minnesota also announced they were shutting down their facility until further notice.
A league source just texted me: "We are shutting Tennessee down until Saturday"
— Dianna Russini (@diannaESPN) September 29, 2020
That means no Titans coaches or players can be in the building.
The Titans are scheduled take on the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 4, while the Vikings are set to meet the Texans in Houston. According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the NFL wants and intends to play the Titans-Steelers game as scheduled, adding that one contingency plan would be to move the game to Monday night in order to allow for additional testing and contact tracing.
NFL wants to and intends to play the Titans-Steelers game as scheduled Sunday; one of the contingency plans to allow for additional testing and contact tracing to occur would be to move the game to Monday night, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 29, 2020
The NFL also issued a statement Tuesday morning:
"On Tuesday morning, the Titans COVID testing results returned three new player positives and five new personnel positives. The Titans will suspend in-person club activities starting today. Likewise, the Vikings, who played the Titans on Sunday, will also suspend in-person club activities. Both clubs are working closely with the NFL and the NFLPA, including our infectious disease experts, to evaluate close contacts, perform additional testing and monitor developments. All decisions will be made with health and safety as our primary consideration. We will continue to share updates as more information becomes available."
The Titans went on to win Sunday's contest 31-30 as the Vikings dropped to 0-3.