NFL Bans In-Person Activities on Monday, Tuesday Amid Increase in COVID-19 Cases
November 28, 2020
Due to rising COVID-19 cases across the country, the NFL is banning in-person activities for teams on Monday and Tuesday.
The league informed clubs of the decision, which doesn't apply to teams playing games on those days, in a memo obtained by Tom Pelissero of NFL Network:
Tom Pelissero @TomPelisseroThe NFL informed clubs all in-person team activities will be prohibited this coming Monday and Tuesday — a mitigation measure in light of rising COVID-19 positivity rates across the country and many players and staff having guests for Thanksgiving. The ban doesn’t include games. https://t.co/ObytXZz5Sg
The memo comes in the wake of a number of teams announcing either positive coronavirus tests or people in the organization who are high-risk close contacts of someone who tested positive.
This week's scheduled game between the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers has been moved twice due to coronavirus concerns with the Ravens. They were originally supposed to play on Thursday before getting pushed back to Sunday.
On Friday, the NFL announced that the Ravens-Steelers game was postponed again. It is now tentatively scheduled to be played on Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET.
Baltimore currently has 12 players on the reserve/COVID-19 list, including quarterback Lamar Jackson.
Since the memo noted the policy doesn't include games, the Ravens-Steelers matchup and the Seattle Seahawks-Philadelphia Eagles meeting on Monday night will be allowed to take place.