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The Kansas City Chiefs are on a short week and have another positive COVID test in the building.
Veteran wide receiver Josh Gordon was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list on Monday, December 3, according to the NFL’s official transaction report.
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Players in the NFL are subject to the reserve/COVID-19 list if they test positive for the virus or those identified through contact tracing as having been exposed, per The Washington Post.
According to a memo — which was obtained by NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero — that was sent to clubs from the NFL back in July, vaccinated players or staff that test positive for the virus and are asymptomatic are eligible to return to duty if they register two negative tests 24 hours apart. For unvaccinated players, just like in 2020, they must quarantine for 10 days and will be permitted to return to duty if they are asymptomatic.
Gordon is coming off his best game in a Chiefs uniform since joining the team on September 27. In the Week 14, 48-9 blowout victory over the Las Vegas Raiders, Gordon caught two passes for nine yards, one of which went for his first receiving touchdown in 2021.
Gordon spoke about the play design that got him in the end zone in Week 14.
“Yeah, I wasn’t sure if it was going to be up this week,” Gordon said of the touchdown play during his postgame press conference on Sunday, December 11. “We’ve been practicing it for a couple of weeks. Coach Reid has been reassuring me that I was going to get my opportunity. I had my trust in him and I knew my time was going to come, I was going to be ready. I made sure that was the case today and it worked out.”
Gordon has a total of four catches on nine targets for 27 yards and the one touchdown in nine games played this season.
Gordon Second Chief in Recent Days to Test Positive
Gordon becomes the second player in Kansas City to be placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list since Friday, December 10. It was on that day that tight end Jody Fortson (achilles, IR) was also placed on the list, per the transaction wire.
At the start of training camp, 90 percent of the Kansas City team was vaccinated, according to head coach Andy Reid. As of August 17, the team was over 95 percent vaccinated, a league spokesperson told KSHB 41’s Casey Murray. “The spokesperson said that makes them one of seven NFL teams to hit the 95% mark,” Murray wrote.
The hope is that the Chiefs — who play the Los Angeles on Thursday Night Football in Week 15 — don’t have an outbreak in their building that significantly impacts their ability to win against a division-rival Chargers squad that’s in contention for a division title.
36 NFL Players Tested Positive Monday
Gordon is one of the 36 NFL players that tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday, according to NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero. That marks the highest player positive case count in the NFL in a single day since the pandemic began.
Due to a very high case count, the NFL is expected to inform teams on Tuesday, December 14 that all Tier 1 and Tier 2 employees are mandated to receive a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot, according to ESPN’s Dianna Russini.
Tier 1 employees includes coaches and football personnel whose job required direct access to players for extended periods of time, according to Fox 4 in Kansas City. Tier 2 consists of additional personnel who may come in contact with players or other Tier 1 employees.
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