The Detroit Lions are limping to the finish line of the 2020 NFL season and just trying to get there healthy. This week, there’s been a significant challenge to this given some new COVID-19 cases within the team.
As Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network explained, the Lions situation is now complicated because their defensive staff has been severely compromised with most being considered close contacts as well as head coach Darrell Bevell. Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press reports that protocol may have been a bit lacking on the Detroit side, with an assistant coach not wearing his tracking device and having folks in his office.
Sources: The #Lions COVID-19 positives from yesterday left their coaching staff in a difficult situation. Almost all of their defensive staff members are considered close contacts, while interim coach Darrell Bevell is, too. DET is still determining who can coach this Saturday.
To add to the @RapSheet report, was told last night one of the Lions assistants did not have his contact tracing device on at all times and another had people in his office
The good news? According to the team on Wednesday, there were no new positive cases and the squad was getting set to have a Wednesday practice outside. Meetings would continue to be held virtually in the morning with the staff and the players, though.
The Lions announce no new positive tests this morning. Contact tracing will keep “several coaches” away from the team facility.
Virtual meetings this morning but an outdoor practice this afternoon.
Who will coach the team if Bevell cannot? That will be a great question the Lions have to look at answering in the coming days depending on how the week progresses. Detroit has a game on Saturday against Tampa Bay, and the quick turnaround could complicate matters in this situation. It’s certainly good news that there are no new positive tests, and the team will have to hope that continues to be the case so the game can happen on time.
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 now have this small bump to contend with in Week 16 in order to get that done.
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Lions’ Staff Facing Tough COVID-19 Situation for Week 16: Report