Getty Wideout coach Robert Prince coaching a game in September with the Lions.
The Detroit Lions 2020 season has truthfully been like no other in history, and now, the team will have yet another unexpected wrinkle to navigate.
Due to a COVID-19 situation within the team, Detroit’s interim coach Darrell Bevell will not be on the sidelines Saturday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Lions wideout coach Robert Prince will take over as the head coach, while quarterbacks coach Sean Ryan will call the team’s offensive plays. That’s according to NFL Network reporter Ian Rapoport.
Early in the week, Bevell admitted he didn’t know whether or not he could coach the game given his status as a high risk contact. Thursday was the day identified that folks would know about Bevell, and it appears that he will be away from the team while others get their shot this weekend.
As for Detroit’s defense, that situation is tough as well. Cory Undlin as well as several position coaches on that side of the ball were missing from practice yesterday, and the Lions will turn to Evan Rothstein to call plays. He’s been involved behind the scenes as an assistant to the head coach and a researcher, but according to Bevell, has the best idea of the defense at this point in time.
Detroit’s Wednesday practice went off without a hitch, and the hope is that no new positives come up between now and Saturday. As long as that remains the case, the Lions figure to be able to get the game in given everyone else will stay isolated from each other.
Lions Went Remote Tuesday After COVID-19 Scare
Detroit went back to remote work on Tuesday following a few positive cases coming up within the team following their trip to Tennessee. Detroit didn’t practice, and all of their work on the field was done virtually. Initially, it was not said how the positive tests came about from within the organization, but it’s clear with this news that it was an internal problem for the Lions which may have helped this along. No doubt the team will look into this and see if that was indeed the case or not in the days ahead and try to clean things up on their end a bit.
Lions COVID-19 Approach Has Worked Most of 2020
Most of the 2020 season, the Lions have done a nice job to limit the amount of COVID-19 troubles within their building. Early in camp, Detroit had their fair share of cases come up, but everyone isolated and was soon cleared for the season. During the year, there hasn’t been many problems at all as it relates to this for Detroit. Matthew Stafford has been the most notable case, and he was merely a close contact. Late in the season, however, this is a show the Lions may be getting a little lax in terms of what they have managed to do. That can’t happen if the games are to be continued as many hope and expect, however.
The Lions are trying to finish out the season, and will have a shuffled deck at head coach and offensive coordinator to contend with.
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