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Lions' Penei Sewell Announces He's Tested Positive for COVID-19
May 12, 2021
Detroit Lions rookie Penei Sewell announced on Twitter Wednesday that he tested positive for COVID-19:
The tackle was the No. 7 overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft and the first offensive lineman off the board.
Sewell was a first-team All-American for Oregon in 2019 but he opted out of the 2020 college football season amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sewell later explained to Tyson Alger of The Athletic that the opt-out came due to the confusion around the Pac-12 plans:
"I really felt lost because I didn't know what the Pac-12 leadership was going to do, whether they were going to cancel or postpone, and I was in the middle of this whole confusing cluster, and at times I was really annoyed by that. I wanted something that I could control and work towards, but once they canceled the season, I talked to my family and we made a decision to control our own destiny."
The Lions minicamp scheduled for May 14-16 was a chance for Sewell to return to the field, but he will now miss the upcoming training session.
There will still be high expectations for Sewell going forward, rated the No. 4 overall player in the class by Bleacher Report's Scouting Department. He was considered the best run-blocker and best pass-blocker among the offensive tackles in the class.
He is expected to compete for the starting right tackle spot in 2021 opposite left tackle Taylor Decker.
