According to multiple reports Sunday morning, all of the Patriots coronavirus testing from Saturday came back negative.
For the moment, it seems that Cam Newton’s positive test from Friday might just be an isolated incident. As such, the NFL is reportedly proceeding with the idea that New England’s now-postponed game in Kansas that was originally set for Sunday evening at Arrowhead Stadium could be played on either Monday or Tuesday night.
ESPN reports that Patriots players were even told during a Saturday night virtual team meeting that they could potentially travel to Kanas City on Monday and play that night, pending ongoing testing.
This is all fine and dandy. It’s certainly good news that no further positive tests have surfaced in New England. Maybe they have actually avoided the type of outbreak that’s ongoing in Tennessee, with positive tests continuing to pop up for both Titans players and staff. New England may be going down the road that the Falcons did almost exactly a week earlier when cornerback A.J. Terrell tested positive, missed a home game and was the sole member of the organization infected.
But right now, given the incubation period of the virus, it’s impossible to know whether the Patriots situation is more like that of the Titans or the Falcons. One or two rounds of negative tests are great, but they aren’t necessarily definitive. The same is true in Kansas City, where the team’s practice squad quarterback also tested positive late this week. Testing in both organizations remains the focus.
But with the NFL seemingly hell-bent on the Patriots playing the Chiefs this week and possibly Monday night, one simple question remains – what if some Patriots players refuse to board a bus and then plane to travel to Kansas City? What if some number of New England’s roster decide the unknowns and the risks of travel are simply too much too soon to risk?
What then?
Because it’s a scenario that can’t be ruled out. Not only did New England have a league-high eight players opt out of the 2020 season altogether this summer, but other notable veterans such as Matthew Slater, Devin and Jason McCourty and Lawrence Guy at least considered the possibility.
Remember, unlike their NBA and NHL brethren, NFL players aren’t protected by a bubble environment. They go home every night to their families.
Any risk they take in their team environment is a risk they take home to their wives, children and other members of their families.
So, getting on a bus and plane with a large group of teammates and staff with some level of uncertainty as to whether the virus is lurking is a concern to not only the low-risk players but to those people most important to them.
Certainly the first thing that will decide whether the Patriots and Chiefs play this week is the testing. Continued negative results in both Kansas City and New England increases the chances of this big AFC battle being played in the next couple days, even though it will be without the most important Patriots player in Newton.
But even if the testing remains negative and even if the NFL mandates the game to be played on Monday or Tuesday night, does that ensure that every player is willing to take that risk? And if they aren’t, how would the NFL handle that situation? Would a couple players simply be left home? Would a larger group of players force the game to be reconsidered once again?
As with so much of the world these days, the currently coronavirus situation in New England and the status of the Patriots/Chiefs game really does bring far more questions than answers.
