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The Cowboys added left tackle Tyron Smith and cornerback Anthony Brown to their COVID-19 reserve list Thursday. Linebacker Micah Parsons also will not play the regular-season finale Saturday because he’s on the reserve list.
Parsons tested positive Wednesday, two days after sitting maskless courtside at the Dallas Mavericks-Denver Nuggets game at the American Airlines Center, Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports. Parsons did not break any of the NFL’s protocols since he is vaccinated, but it is against the league’s recommendations.
Parsons will finish the season with 13 sacks, 1.5 sacks behind Jevon Kearse’s NFL rookie record.
“Who knows if that’s where he got it from,” Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott said, via Hill. “No one can pinpoint or truly detect where we’re picking it up, where people are getting it from right now. But we can do the best we can of controlling our surroundings.
“I’ve told you before, we’ve just got to be cautious, protecting yourself, trying to stay away from the big crowds, limiting the people you’re around and doing all the things you can to control it, something we obviously don’t have our fingers on or have control of this thing or even an idea of how not to get it right now. Just do the best you can to prevent yourself.”
On Wednesday night, Cowboys receivers CeeDee Lamb and Amari Cooper were unmasked as they sat courtside at the Mavericks game against the Golden State Warriors.
Lamb, like Parsons, is vaccinated. Cooper is not.
Cooper missed two games with COVID-19 in November. While that exempts him from daily testing for 90 days, he still must follow a different set of protocols as an unvaccinated player.
According to the NFL’s 2021 regular-season protocols, “A player who is not fully vaccinated is prohibited from attending a professional sporting event unless he is seated in a separated seating section, such as a suite or owner’s box, is wearing PPE, and there are no more than 10 people in that separate seating section.”
The NFL can fine violators $14,650. An NFL spokesman told Hill that Cooper falls into that category but declined to comment on whether the league will fine the receiver.
