The NFL and Their Current COVID Hardship’s
Similarly to the NBA, the NFL has been struggling with their own covid outbreak around the league. Although it has not been as serious as the NBA’s outbreak, it too has sidelined some of the league's best players. Many teams have been without their starting quarterbacks throughout the past few weeks because of the outbreak. Teams such as the Saints, The Washington Football team and The Ravens have had to resort to their third string quarterback this season due to these circumstances.
Around the league teams have switched to virtual meetings to keep their players and most importantly their quarterbacks safe. This has been done due to the fact that there have been over 400 player positives in the month of December alone. Last year, there were only 262 player positives through the entire season.
Photo by Marc Lebryk
But with the new CDC guidelines, the NFL has decided to follow the new regulations, which means players who are asymptomatic, regardless of vaccination status, are cleared to play after 5 days of quarantine. This change is due to the severeness of the Omnicron variant, as many have minor symptoms or are asymptomatic. This will hopefully help teams get players back faster and avoid them missing big games.
This week is no different from others as more stars are expected to be out such as Antonio Gibson, Kirk Cousins and Carson Wentz. This is big for these 3 teams as they are all in the hunt for a playoff spot. Hopefully the spread can slow, and teams can be back to full health come playoff time, and 2022 can start with a bang.
