The New England Patriots are doing all they can to prevent COVID-19 from derailing their season.
Multiple Patriots players on Wednesday said the NFL’s recent avalanche of COVID cases is top of mind as the team makes its final playoff push. The primary message?
“Just protect yourself,” cornerback J.C. Jackson said. “Put the team first. Don’t do anything that will hurt the team or will hurt yourself. Watch who you be around. Wear a mask at all times. Hey, it’s coming back out. It’s getting crazy. We see a lot of teams, guys missing games because of COVID.
“Here, we try and put ourselves in the best position so we won’t get that and let our team down, or have guys missing games. It’s the end of the season now, so we need everyone.”
Linebacker and co-captain Dont’a Hightower said the Patriots have stressed this approach internally.
“I’ll say, we’ve had a discussion,” Hightower said. “I won’t go into what it all entailed, but I think everyone is kind of aware of how contagious it is, and once it gets in, it’s in there. We’ve had the luxury these last couple of weeks of it not being here and seeing it hit other teams and seeing how it can tear a season down, tear a couple of weeks down and put (teams) in a tough situation.
“We know what we have in front of us, so we’re hoping everyone does the right thing.”
Outside linebacker Matthew Judon, who was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list Monday, shared similar sentiments earlier this month.
“All we can say as leaders or anybody is just protect yourself,” Judon said on Dec. 15. “… Try not to spend time in places where you really don’t have to when you can be at home.”
While the Patriots have avoided the type of full-scale outbreak that’s decimated teams like the Cleveland Browns, Washington Football Team and New Orleans Saints in recent weeks, they have seen a steady drip of positive tests. The following New England players have been spent time on the reserve/COVID-19 list since late November:
RB J.J. Taylor
S Kyle Dugger
OL Yasir Durant
WR Kendrick Bourne
LB Harvey Langi
LB Cameron McGrone
OLB Ronnie Perkins
RB Rhamondre Stevenson
DE Deatrich Wise
OLB Matthew Judon
LB Ja’Whaun Bentley
QB Brian Hoyer
ST Brandon King
LB Josh Uche
Wise, Judon, Bentley, Hoyer, King and Uche remained on COVID reserve as of Wednesday afternoon.
Given how the virus can quickly spread through position groups, Hoyer’s case was especially concerning. Quarterbacks Mac Jones and Jarrett Stidham both were present at practice Wednesday, meaning neither has tested positive to this point. They’re currently New England’s only active QBs after Washington, in the midst of its own COVID crisis, signed practice squadder Garrett Gilbert away two weeks ago.
Head coach Bill Belichick was asked whether he is isolating one quarterback to lower the chances of transmission.
“We’ve tried to take the highest precaution that we can with everybody,” Belichick said before Wednesday’s practice. “Not trying to single out one player and say the other players don’t matter, because that’s not the case. We’ve tried to take the highest precautions with all of our players, particularly the ones who are not vaccinated. We’ve kind of approached it that way. We want to protect everybody.”
With cases surging across the league, the NFL has overhauled its COVID protocols, reinstituting many of its 2020 restrictions (mandatory indoor masking, virtual or meetings, etc.) and adapting its guidelines to allow players who test positive to return more quickly. As of Tuesday, unvaccinated players who land on the COVID list can return in as little as five days, down from the previous minimum of 10.
The Patriots’ Week 17 opponent, the Jacksonville Jaguars, has placed more than a dozen players on COVID reserve this week, including three more Wednesday.
“I think it’s close to 500 players the last couple weeks that have been on some kind of COVID reserve or that type of thing,” Belichick said. “The numbers are very high. As far as I know, every team in the league’s dealing with it, and there are different types of problems. Player availability is certainly one, but then there are others logistically, as well.”
Belichick wouldn’t say who would step in as head coach if he tested positive for COVID — as many of his counterparts around the league have this season — but expressed confidence in his coaching staff to fill that sizable void if need be.
New England will close out its regular season with matchups against the Jaguars (home) and Miami Dolphins (away) before the NFL playoffs kick off in mid-January. Belichick’s club currently holds the No. 6 seed in the AFC, meaning it would be on the road in the wild-card round.
“We don’t travel this week; we travel next week, but even going back a couple weeks, there were some things that were a little challenging,” Belichick said. “But I think by the time we travel in these protocols, I think it will be even a little bit more restrictive. But I think everybody just wants to find a way to continue to play and finish the season. So if this is what it is, that’s what it is.”
