Getty Washington head coach Ron Rivera has watched 24 players on his team go into COVID-19 protocols this week.
There had been murmurs of the NFL rescheduling the Week 15 matchup between the Washington Football Team and Philadelphia Eagles. Now those soft whispers have become a hard reality after the league announced the divisional game will be played two days later than anticipated.
The NFC East showdown will be played on Tuesday, December 21 at 7 p.m. The contest had originally been scheduled for Sunday, December 19 at 1 p.m.
The spike in COVID-19 cases across the league has put everyone in panic mode, especially in Washington where 24 players have either tested positive for COVID-19 or have been in close contact with someone who has. Notable names include quarterback Taylor Heinicke, defensive end Montez Sweat, defensive tackle Jonathan Allen, and cornerback Kendall Fuller.
The NFL is doing the best it can to protect their product and the integrity of the playoff race amid a global pandemic. Both Washington and Philadelphia are alive in the postseason hunt and it would be unfair to trot out a skeleton crew of a team on Sunday. However, the move viciously handicaps an Eagles team who – by all accounts – has followed the COVID-19 protocols to the letter of the law. Washington incurred the outbreak, not them. And now they will have to turn around and play their Week 16 game on four days rest.
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Eagles Players Not Happy
The reactions from Eagles players was fast and furious on social media – and none of them were enthusiastic. It’s not that anyone doesn’t have sympathy for what Washington is going through – for the record, 80% of cases there are asymptomatic – but it doesn’t seem right to punish Philadelphia for their sins.
Anyway, here is a sampling of the responses from the locker room:
So we have to suffer, and compromise our schedule because of another teams mistake. Make it make sense! Smh
That’s crazy.. we play Tuesday night then turn right around an play Sunday!! No Days off 🤷🏽♂️ double up on massages this week.
The Eagles released an official team statement on the matter and didn’t give an opinion one way or the other. That’s called taking the high road.
Head coach Nick Sirianni was asked about a potential schedule change before it actually happened. He hadn’t been in touch with the league or heard anything about it.
“No, they tell us where to play and when to play and we’ll play there,” Sirianni said. “Haven’t heard anything; plan on playing at Sunday at 1.”
Philly Fans Also Not Happy
Washington-Philadelphia wasn’t the only game moved. A total of four games were switched to accommodate various levels of COVID-19 concerns. The Las Vegas Raiders and Cleveland Browns will play Monday (December 20) at 5 p.m. followed by the Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears at 8:15 p.m. The Eagles’ game will kick off simultaneously with the Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams on Tuesday (December 21) at 7 p.m.
Naturally, fans in Philly were taking the news pretty well. Not. Here is a spattering of their reactions:
Eagles Washington game is moved to Tuesday night at 7PM at the Linc
Absolutely ridiculous Eagles are being punished for another team’s problems, especially considering the Eagles have been tremendous with their Covid protocols
Eagles should just show up at the Linc on Sunday anyway. Put the pads on, go through warm-ups, coin flip, the whole thing. They were ready.
The official NMU reaction the the NFL News.
#NFL #WashingtonFootball #eagles
Are. You. Fucking. Kidding. Me.
The #NFL made rule changes regarding #Covid in the past 24 HOURS?!!
Yeahhhh, that seems fair. How are players gonna react to this? A lot of players tweeting right now how this is bullshit. @nflcommish may have an issue on his hands soon. #Eagles
Wow I just got fucked can’t get refunded for plane tickets for tomorrow and my hotel plus now have to try and sell tickets on seat geek #Nfl #Eagles #FlyEaglesFly
Tough situation for the Eagles. Tuesday nights are usually reserved for Jeffrey Lurie going over film and devising next week’s game plan with Nick Sirianni.