NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Tennessee Titans have heard some of the calls for the NFL to punish them harshly for the team’s role in the league’s first COVID-19 outbreak, and they have some words of caution after first-hand experience.
It’s still a pandemic.
And testing, even as much as the NFL does, is not perfect.
Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill said Saturday it’s been a roller coaster as people with no symptoms test positive while others with full-blown symptoms receive consecutive negative tests on multiple days. He noted everyone had said from the beginning that testing would not prevent the virus from being spread.
“It was really eye-opening and just the fact of we really don’t know, so we have to treat everyone as if they have the virus, unfortunately,” Tannehill said. “I feel like we probably lost faith in the testing system just through everything we’ve been through over over the past week and a half.”
As the Titans’ outbreak grew to 23 with 21 positive tests returned since Sept. 29, safety Kevin Byard said he heard calls for Tennessee to forfeit games as the NFL first postponed, then rescheduled its game with Pittsburgh to Oct. 25. The league also moved Pittsburgh-Baltimore to Nov. 1.
The Titans (3-0) hope now to host Buffalo (4-0) on Tuesday night.
“If anybody went into the season thinking that there weren’t going to be a couple of positive tests or outbreak somewhere of all 32 teams, I think that was kind of foolish to think,” Byard said. “I mean, obviously, we wasn’t trying to be the team that had the outbreak. We’re not trying to get COVID-19.”
JETS: Star running back Le’Veon Bell was activated from the injured reserve list and will be eligible to play on Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals.
Bell spent the last three weeks on IR after injuring a hamstring in the season-opening loss at Buffalo. His return should boost a Jets offense that ranks last or nearly last in the NFL in several categories. Frank Gore has started in all four games at running back, but the 37-year-old veteran is averaging just 3.2 yards per carry.
BEARS: Chicago placed offensive lineman Badara Traore on the COVID-19/reserve list, the team announced.
Traore is the first Bears player on the COVID-19/reserve list since early August, shortly after players reported to training camp. The list is for players who either have tested positive or been in close contact with someone who has. ESPN previously reported Saturday that a practice squad player had tested positive and contact tracing was underway.
The Bears were last together as a team Thursday night when they beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 20-19 at Soldier Field, but practice squad players are not allowed in the locker room or on the sideline on game days. The Bears players have the weekend away from Halas Hall because of the Thursday night game.
RAMS: The NFL fined Los Angeles cornerback Jalen Ramsey $15,625 for his role in an altercation with New York Giants receiver Golden Tate after last Sunday’s game at SoFi Stadium, a person with knowledge of the situation said Saturday. Tate was not fined, said the person, who was not authorized to speak about the matter publicly and requested anonymity.
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