CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – The Cleveland Browns COVID-19 contingency plan got put to the test Sunday when over a dozen players and staff registered false positives.
Among them was head coach Kevin Stefanski.
“It was not fun,” Stefanski said Monday afternoon on a Zoom video conference call with reporters. “I can laugh about it now, but truly it wasn’t fun to have that phone call very early in the morning and not get news that it was potentially an error until later.
“It is something that I take seriously, and our whole goal with our players and our staff is to keep everybody safe.”
Stefanski, who received the first call around 4 a.m. and another around 9 a.m., declined to give a specific number of how many Browns players and staffers were affected, but Monday afternoon as many as 12 players were still awaiting test results.
Shortly after Stefanski spoke with reporters the team received word that all 12 were “all clear” and able to report for practice on time.
It was a close call, and a sigh of relief.
“Everything went off without a hitch,” Stefanski said.
Upon getting word from the lab they had potential positive tests Sunday morning, the Browns immediately closed their facility and cancelled practice.
“Our organization mobilized immediately, got on top of it and followed the protocols,” Stefanski said. “Ultimately, it was a fire drill, as it has been called, but it was a great reminder that we have to trust our protocols and make sure we are doing everything the right way and prepare as always.”
While the false positives might have been a blessing in disguise to allow them to test their protocols, what happens if this occurs during the season leading up to a game, say on a Friday or Saturday?
“I trust that we have the people involved that can get this thing right,” Stefanski said.
“We’re just going to follow the protocols. We got a dry run of it [Sunday] and we’ll continue to just follow them. We have these contingency plans. That’s why we laid them out, so we’ll be prepared.”
Once the Browns got word that as many as 11 teams were dealing with false positive results from the lab in New Jersey, the team reopened the facility, which underwent a deep cleaning and was disinfected, they and went back to work except Stefanski and those who registered the false positives.
Defensive coordinator Joe Woods ran practice Sunday while Stefanski received video of practice on his iPad after leaving his home and going to an empty condo near the facility to self-quarantine.
“It just reinforces my feelings, and I’ve told the team this, our mentality and my mentality is No 1, you don’t want to get this and No. 2 you don’t want to give it to anybody,” Stefanski said. “That is why we are so strict about the protocols. That is why we follow everything to a ‘T.’
“That’s why we act in an abundance of caution, because we’re trying to take care of each other – players, coaches, staff and their families.”
In the wake of Sunday's confusion around the NFL regarding test results, the league announced Monday that there were zero positives in the 23,260 tests administered to players and six confirmed positives among the 35,137 tests administered to league and team personnel between Aug. 12-20.
