The Tennessee Titans football team has had eight players test positive for the COVID-19 virus, which has prompted the program to postpone its next game. According to ESPN , 16 members of the Titans organization — eight players and eight members of the coaching staff — have all tested positive within the past few days.
The outbreak has caused the NFL to postpone the Titans’ upcoming competition against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Instead, the league announced that the Titans’ rescheduled game is going to be played on October 25 in the seventh week of the season. According to a report by CBS Sports , the team may also have to reschedule its Week 5 contest against the Buffalo Bills if further tests come back positive.
Due to the fact that the Steelers and their previous Week 7 competitor, the Baltimore Ravens, have similar bye weeks, the postponement was a relatively simple process. However, the NFL stated that more challenges will arise if the league is forced to continually alter the dates of competitions.
Tennessee’s practice facility has remained shut down to prevent any other people from catching the disease. The club’s head coach, Mike Vrabel, stated that he has been careful to follow all of the league regulations put in place to help control the virus. He also hoped the athletes would be able to begin practice and workouts on either Monday or Tuesday.
“I reminded them to not gather with each other until we can find a safe way to enter back into our building,” Vrabel said.
The head coach encouraged his men to mentally and physically recover during the time they have to rest.
“Find a way to do something to stay active,” he stated for those members who were still fortunate enough to have their health.
Although he told his players to stay active, he recommended they do so by themselves.
Officials from the NFL and NFLPA have made visits to Nashville in order to check up on the spread of the disease. The people in the Tennessee Titans’ organization said to have COVID-19 have reportedly experienced flu-like systems.
The professionals who have been confirmed as having the virus include Adam Humpheries, Cameron Batson, DaQuan Jones, Kamalei Correa, Kristian Fulton, Beau Brinkley, Tommy Hudson, and Greg Mabin.
The Titans’ last game was a 31-30 victory against the Minnesota Vikings, which has already reported that all competitors of its club remain uninfected. The Vikings will still compete against the Houston Texans this Sunday as scheduled.