Everything had been running smoothly in the 2020 NFL season. Through the first three weeks, other than a spate of injuries, there had been no problems with COVID-19; only one case had been reported. That all changed yesterday, however, when the coronavirus stepped up its game and took out nine people on a single team. The ramifications are troublesome and now have the league and all franchises scrambling to figure out how best to contain the situation. 

The Tennessee Titans reported yesterday that three of the team’s players and five members of its staff had tested positive for COVID-19. To avoid the possibility that the results were a false alarm, everyone had to go through additional testing, which confirmed that they are definitely infected. DaQuan Jones, Beau Brinkley and Tommy Hudson were placed on the Titans’ Reserve-COVID-19 list as a result. The staff members weren’t named. 

The announcement forced the Minnesota Vikings to jump into action, as well. They had hosted the Titans this past Sunday and, in addition to losing by one point, could have seen COVID-19 jump the lines and infect someone on the squad. However, according to initial tests, no Vikings player has returned a positive result. 

Still, both teams have decided to temporarily close their facilities and halt practices – the Titans don’t anticipate getting back to work until this Saturday. That’s not necessarily a good game plan, though, as going into a Sunday game after four days of no practice is not a smart move. The Titans, which are supposed to take on the Pittsburgh Steelers this coming weekend, would simply be asking to have more players end up on the injured reserve list.