The Jacksonville Jaguars placed four rookie players on the reserve/COVID-19 list Monday, with two of the players being mid-round selections in this year’s NFL Draft.
The rookies includes undrafted free agents Luq Barcoo and Tre’Vour Wallace-Simms, as well as third-round pick and former Ohio State defensive tackle Davon Hamilton and fourth-round pick and former Michigan State corner Josiah Scott.
While Barcoo, Wallace-Simms and Hamilton have not openly commented on the news, Scott took to Twitter on Monday to explain where he’s at in terms of testing.
“My first test for Covid came back positive but then was re-tested multiple times the following days after that and those results have all been negative. My first test was a false positive guys so we’re all good just had to do the protocol.”
Scott was the second defensive back taken by the Jaguars in the 2020 NFL Draft, with the Spartan joining Jacksonville after the team selected Florida’s C.J. Henderson with the ninth overall pick.
Scott’s Background
After the departure of long-time starting corners A.J. Bouye and Jalen Ramsey over the past year, the Jaguars were expected to make moves in the secondary in an attempt to pick up where they left off.
Henderson is expected to be the Ramsey replacement, although they play like different players. Opposite of Henderson, the No. 2 corner is expected to be Tre Herndon, who took over a starting role for the Jaguars in 2019 and proved that he can be relied on heading into 2020.
However, both Herndon and Henderson will face competition from Scott and other Jaguars DBs considering how less certain the starting corner situation is in 2020.
Scott notched 29 total appearances while at Michigan State, and seemingly progressed from one season to the next, with his final year in East Lansing, Michigan being his most impressive.
After three picks over the previous two seasons, Scott matched that total with three in 2019 and also added his forced fumble of his college career. Scott also added a career-high 36 solo tackles in his junior year.
What Comes Next for Scott and the Jaguars
As Scott points out, he’s had two subsequent tests that seemingly suggest that he had a false positive as he claims. However, he’ll need to continue passing COVID-19 tests before he’s given the full go-ahead to begin practicing with the rest of the team, which will have all players reporting after veterans arrive in Jacksonville on Tuesday.
The same goes for Hamilton, Barcoo and Wallace-Simms, if they have tested positive for COVID-19. If it’s just been due to exposure to a positive-testing individual, it becomes reliant on when and how they interacted with the person.
The Jaguars are not alone in positive tests with the Minnesota Vikings also listing four rookies on the reserve/COVID-19 list, along with several other teams around the NFL.
Despite the system being set up to safely handle positive tests and return them to the field in an efficient time frame, it’s still not ideal for head coach Doug Marrone and the Jaguars to have to wait or circumvent positive tests.
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Evan Reier is a sportswriter covering the NFL for Heavy.com and local sports for the Montana Standard in Butte, Mont. Reach out to him on Twitter at @evanreier.
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Jaguars Rookie Corner Speaks Openly on Positive COVID-19 Test