Dolphins Assistant Tests Positive for COVID-19; MIA in NFL's Intensive Protocol

The Miami Dolphins announced Friday they've entered the NFL's intensive coronavirus protocol after an assistant coach tested positive for COVID-19 ahead of Sunday's Week 9 game against the Arizona Cardinals.

Here's the team's full statement:

The Dolphins are still expected to have a walkthrough practice later Friday and remain scheduled to face the Cardinals, per Tom Pelissero and Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network.

Miami joined the Atlanta Falcons, who also announced a positive test among its staff, in entering the more intensive protocols. The Falcons are going to work virtually Friday.

A troublesome trend is beginning to develop after nine players from five teams were added to the reserve/COVID-19 list Thursday. The United States continues to see a rise in cases, reaching an all-time high of more than 121,000 new positives Thursday, per CNN's Christina Maxouris.

The NFL showed a greater tolerance of playing despite coronavirus concerns by allowing Thursday night's game between the Green Bay Packers and San Francisco 49ers after three members of the Niners roster were put on the reserve list earlier in the day.

After the league played the first three weeks of the regular season without issue, the next two weeks were filled with schedule alterations that included moving bye weeks around to keep the campaign within the typical structure of 17 weeks.

Such changes will become harder moving forward as teams use their bye week, so there will be additional pressure to play games if the league office wants to avoid adding a week to the end of the season to ensure each club plays its full slate.

Preparations are being made in case that's not possible, though. ESPN's Chris Mortensen reported Monday the NFL competition committee is considering a 16-team playoff field, with one extra team from each conference, if the coronavirus ultimately leads to an unbalanced schedule.

That said, so far no changes have been made to the Week 9 schedule.

The Dolphins and Cardinals are set for a 4:25 p.m. ET kickoff Sunday at State Farm Stadium.