Sean Payton has tested positive for COVID-19 and was immediately isolated, the Saints announced Friday morning.
The news came days after Payton missed practice for an illness, which the team said was non COVID-related. Payton returned to practice on Thursday. It's unclear whether those symptoms were related to the positive test, but the head coach will not be available to coach his team when they face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a pivotal NFC South showdown on Sunday Night Football.
The head coaching duties will fall to defensive coordinator Dennis Allen, with the team hopeful Payton can return in time to coach against the Miami Dolphins in Week 16. The team announced that the coach will be out for 10 days, indicating he is exhibiting symptoms and affecting the hurdles he'll need to clear before returning to the team.
It's the second consecutive week the Saints will be dealing with COVID absences, and the second time this season an outbreak has hit the coaching staff. Multiple assistant coaches missed a Week 2 matchup with the Panthers after a run of positive tests, and the team was without Cam Jordan, Mark Ingram and Ty Montgomery in Week 14 after the trio tested positive. Jordan returned to practice on Thursday, but the others have yet to be activated.
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The coach's latest run-in with COVID comes amid a surge across the NFL landscape, with dozens of key players landing in quarantine and unavailable for games that could define the 2021 season for many teams. The Saints are in that group, along with four others at 6-7 and fighting for a spot in the postseason. Another of those teams is the Washington Football Team, which will play without starting quarterback Taylor Heinicke this week. The Browns will also be down their starting quarterback in Baker Mayfield.
Payton, 57, was quarantined immediately following the positive test. The coach is fully vaccinated, and is now battling the virus for the second time. Payton's first case was one of the NFL's earliest documented cases, coming in the 2020 preseason and amid the peak of the pandemic's spread. Saints owner Gayle Benson also tested positive later in the offseason.
The NFL has instituted changes in its COVID protocols over the past week, and the Saints must now brace for more potential positive tests ahead of the showdown in Tampa. Payton's return to practice on Thursday means there could be a number of coaches and players deemed as close contacts and place in an enhanced testing protocol. That was the case a week ago with Jordan's initial positive test, and the others testing positive later in the week.
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The Saints' recent outbreak hasn't been linked to anywhere specific, but it began a week following the Saints' matchup with the Dallas Cowboys. The Saints opponent entered that game without head coach Mike McCarthy, who had tested positive for COVID and placed in quarantine in the week leading up to the game.
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