Getty Kenny Golladay makes a catch against Chicago.
The Detroit Lions began their team wide testing for the coronavirus early this week, and the first round of tests has yielded a few big names.
Wednesday, Detroit placed 5 players on the COVID/reserve list. The biggest names were wideout Kenny Golladay, tight end T.J. Hockenson, cornerback Amani Oruwariye and punter Arryn Siposs. The final player was safety Jalen Elliott.
Not only is John Atkins opting out of the season, but the Lions have also placed Kenny Golladay and T.J. Hockenson on the reserve/COVID-19 list, meaning both have either tested positive for the virus or been in close contact with an infected person.
The news doesn’t mean that all the players were positive, of course. They may have been in contact with another person who was infected. According to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, Siposs was positive but asymptomatic which means he could theoretically be back sooner.
Detroit will have to monitor these players as well as the rest of their roster to see what happens in the coming days. For now, this is the first round of tests and results.
John Atkins Opts Out of 2020 Season
Wednesday afternoon, defensive lineman John Atkins was revealed by ESPN’s Adam Schefter to be opting out on the season. Atkins is the first member of the team to opt out of the 2020 season due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Lions DT John Atkins has opted out, per source.
The players will have until August 4 to decide whether they’re in or out for the 2020 season. Obviously, it’s a personal decision for each player that decides to walk away for the time being and one that should be respected considering nobody knows family history or health history of the players.
John Atkins Stats
An undrafted free agent out of Georgia in 2018, Atkins joined the Lions later that season after being with the New England Patriots for a time. Atkins hasn’t played much in the NFL, but he has 22 tackles to his credit thus far in his young career. This season, Atkins was going to be counted on to provide depth up front for the team in the middle of the defensive line. That would have been his primary role as a depth player.
Lions Revealed Facility Changes for 2020
Recently, ahead of training camp, the team revealed that they had made some changes to things around Allen Park. Rod Wood walked fans through a new video that showed some of the changes around the facility. Some were simple such as arrows on the ground and reminders to keep 6 feet apart with temperature checks. Others, such as a reconfigured lunch room were a bit more complex.
Here’s a look
Come inside the 🏡 of the 🦁 to see how we’ve prepared to welcome our players back for 2020 Training Camp presented by @RocketMortgage.
Perhaps the most interesting new element of the facility was the practice field being used as a 90 player meeting room with seats 6 feet apart. It might be tough, but the Lions seem to be well prepared to deal with their new normal thanks to what they’ve been able to engineer in the meantime.
Bob Quinn Explains Other Lions Changes
The Lions have managed to weather the storm fairly well and are looking prepared to deal with the pandemic as best they can. General manager Bob Quinn spoke with the media and said that the team has been preparing as best they can by cleaning the facility regularly.
Quinn is going over some of the new safety protocols in Allen Park, said Lions have put their facility through 10 deep cleans, which means no one allowed in the building for 48 hours. There’s plexiglass between lockers in the locker room
Additionally, the team’s positional rooms have been moved around in order to better suit the needs of social distancing and the players.
Quinn said the Lions’ QB room is not usable right now because of its size. Every position has gone up a room, essentially, so OL will use the team meeting room, which previously held 120 people. Now holds 34 max.
The team is also going next level in terms of tracking movements within the building, which could be a big plus in terms of limiting the spread.
Players and staff will be wearing microchipped devices (sweat bands, wrist bands), that will track which people you are contact with in the building. Devices blink and give audio alerts if you get too close to people outside designated tiers.
All of these precautions hopefully will mean the Lions can navigate the pandemic well and stay out of trouble in terms of having an outbreak on their team.
We’ll see what happens after this first round of players progresses through.
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