NFL postpones Titans-Steelers game to later in season after more positive coronavirus tests – The Washington Post

The Titans facility will remain closed and the team will have in-person activities suspended “up until more notification,” the league said. One possibility pointed out formerly is that the Titans-Steelers video game could be played in Week 7. The Steelers game at Baltimore in Week 7 would be moved to Week 8, now the bye week for the Steelers and Ravens, in that possible scenario.
” We are just through Week 3 of the season,” Wednesdays NFL memo said. … Inconsistent or selective compliance threatens to weaken fan confidence in our health and security protocols and the competitive fairness and stability of the NFL season.”

In the middle of the Titans-Steelers posts ponement, the NFL sent a memo to teams Wednesday stressing the requirement to follow all health procedures, consisting of the regulation for coaches and other group staff members to wear face coverings appropriately while on the sideline throughout video games, if the season is to proceed without disturbances.
” We are only through Week 3 of the season,” Wednesdays NFL memo said. “If we are to play a complete and undisturbed season, we all need to stay dedicated to our efforts to alleviate the threat of transmission of the virus. Inconsistent adherence to health and wellness protocols, such as wearing face coverings and observing physical distancing requirements [,] will put the 2020 season at threat. … Selective or irregular compliance threatens to weaken fan confidence in our health and wellness procedures and the competitive fairness and integrity of the NFL season.”
In a memo to teams sent out Tuesday about the Titans positive tests, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell composed: “This is not unanticipated; as Dr. Sills and others have emphasized, there will be players and personnel who will check favorable during the season.”
Allen Sills is the leagues chief medical officer.
“These results confirm the requirement to stay diligent in implementing all of our health and wellness procedures to the max level,” Goodell composed in Tuesdays memo.

” Nobody is to blame,” Vrabel stated Wednesday. “Were in a pandemic. Things take place.”
Vrabel stated Wednesday that some of the Titans players and non-playing members of the company to have actually evaluated favorable today were experiencing “flu-like signs” however they were “nothing, I believe, out of the regular.” He included: “We prepare for that they will feel better shortly.”
He spoke Wednesday of the individual toll of the groups outbreak and said he would have liked for the league to have inquired “about how those individuals were feeling.”
Vrabel stated he was not among those to have actually tested positive this week and included: “Theres a personal side of this that in some cases we look past and we want to make certain when were going to play the video games which the protocols are being followed. I think that theres a personal side to this about those individuals that did undoubtedly test favorable.”

“The decision to delay the game was made to guarantee the health and safety of gamers, coaches and game day personnel,” the NFL stated in a written declaration.

The posts ponement to the Titans-Steelers video game are the very first changes to the NFLs schedule during the 2020 season as it runs during the pandemic. The league did not immediately announce when the video game will be played.
One possibility discussed formerly is that the Titans-Steelers game could be played in Week 7. Thats the present bye week for the Titans. The Steelers video game at Baltimore in Week 7 would be moved to Week 8, now the bye week for the Steelers and Ravens, in that prospective scenario.
Titans Coach Mike Vrabel said in a video news conference Wednesday that the Titans had been persistent in sticking to the health procedures developed by the league and the NFL Players Association. No one needs to be faulted, Vrabel stated, for the very first break out on an NFL group.

The Vikings, who played the Titans on Sunday in Minneapolis, resumed their facility Thursday and announced they d had no favorable test results among gamers, coaches and team staffers. The NFL prepare for the Vikings-Texans game to be played as arranged Sunday in Houston.

The Titans center will remain closed and the team will have in-person activities suspended “until further notification,” the league said. The Titans and Minnesota Vikings closed their facilities after the Titans had 8 favorable test results– consisting of 3 gamers and 5 non-players– returned Tuesday from tests performed Monday. The Titans had another gamer test positive in the results returned Wednesday from Tuesdays testing.