The Cleveland Browns’ coronavirus-related issues continued as Coach Kevin Stefanski, two assistant coaches and two players tested positive for the virus, the team announced Tuesday.
The Browns said their facility was closed while contact tracing was taking place. The disruptions continue for the Browns ahead of their first playoff game in 18 years, scheduled for Sunday night at Pittsburgh, which Stefanski will have to miss.
“The team will continue to consult with the league and medical experts to determine the appropriate next steps as the health and safety of our players, coaches, staff and the entire community remains our highest priority,” the Browns said in a written statement.
The Browns said that their special teams coordinator, Mike Priefer, is to serve as the acting head coach, under their contingency plans.
Saints down four running backs, Browns close facility on eve of NFL regular season finale
Stefanski would be the second NFL head coach to miss a game this season. Darrell Bevell, the interim head coach of the Detroit Lions, missed a Dec. 26 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after he and four of the team’s defensive assistant coaches were placed on five-day quarantines upon being classified as high-risk close contacts.
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Stefanski and the other members of the Browns organization who tested positive are subject to 10-day isolation periods, under the treatment protocols developed by the NFL and the NFL Players Association. They could return to football activities after 10 days if they remain asymptomatic and receive medical clearance.
The Browns-Steelers game remains on as scheduled for 8:15 p.m. Eastern time Sunday at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, the NFL said Tuesday.
“There’s no change to the status of the game,” league spokesman Brian McCarthy said in a written statement. “We are continuing to conduct standard contact tracing to identify any possible high-risk close contacts. If any players or personnel are identified as such, they would remain apart from the team and facilities for five days from the last exposure to a positive individual. They would be eligible to return to the team and play in the game. As you know, there were no positives from tests over the previous couple days.”
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Guard Joel Bitonio and wide receiver KhaDarel Hodge are the Browns players who tested positive in the round of daily coronavirus testing results returned Tuesday, a person familiar with the situation confirmed.
For Stefanski, Bitonio, Hodge and the two assistant coaches who tested positive, their 10-day isolation period began Monday, when their test samples were collected, and would run through Wednesday of next week. They could return to football activities as soon as Thursday of next week.
Any players or coaches classified as high-risk close contacts for exposure as recently as Monday would be eligible to participate in Sunday’s game. For exposure to the virus Monday, the quarantine would run Tuesday through Saturday. In that case, those players or coaches could not travel Saturday with the team. But the Browns could arrange for private travel to Pittsburgh.
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Stefanski and the other Browns coaches who tested positive can coach remotely during the week but not on game day. That's what happened with the Lions when Bevell and Detroit’s defensive assistants were quarantined.
The NFL conducted genomic-sequencing tests on the Browns’ positive cases from last week and found them to be unconnected, according to a person familiar with the situation. So there was not transmission of the virus within the team at that point. The new cases will undergo the same testing, according to that person.
The NFL completed its 256-game regular season Sunday within its originally scheduled 17 weeks. Games were rescheduled throughout the season, especially when the Tennessee Titans and Baltimore Ravens suffered major coronavirus outbreaks. But no games were lost entirely to cancellation and the NFL was not forced to implement its contingency plan of adding an 18th week to the regular season. The San Francisco 49ers played three scheduled home games in Arizona after being displaced because of coronavirus restrictions in Santa Clara, Calif.
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Now 13 games remain in the NFL season, including 12 during the AFC and NFC playoffs and then the Super Bowl scheduled for Feb. 7 in Tampa. That begins with six playoff games this weekend. The NFL has said its protocols will not change during the postseason. But its coronavirus-related complications continue into the playoffs.
The Browns closed their facility three times in a four-day span from last Wednesday through Saturday because of positive coronavirus tests. They practiced at least twice over that four-day span, including once when their facility reopened in the afternoon after being closed in the morning. They beat the Steelers, 24-22, Sunday in Cleveland to improve their record to 11-5 and clinch the franchise’s first playoff berth since the 2002 season.
The Browns had lost their previous game to the New York Jets, 23-16, Dec. 27 in East Rutherford, N.J., after placing four wide receivers and two linebackers on their covid-19 reserve list. That list is for players who test positive and those determined to have been exposed to the virus through contact tracing. Linebacker B.J. Goodson reportedly tested positive and the other players, including Hodge and top wideout Jarvis Landry, were classified as high-risk close contacts. The wide receivers, including Hodge and Landry, were activated last week and played Sunday against the Steelers.
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The loss to the Jets made the Browns the latest team to lose a game during the regular season while at a major competitive disadvantage. The Denver Broncos lost a November game to the New Orleans Saints without any of their four quarterbacks. The Lions lost to the Buccaneers without their coaches. But the Saints did beat the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday without four running backs.
NFL leaders said throughout the season that games were postponed for medical reasons only, not over competitive issues. That approach is to continue into the postseason, and the NFLPA has endorsed that. The NFL decided not to utilize neutral-site bubbles or mandatory local bubbles (which would have entailed a team’s players, coaches and staffers staying in a hotel instead of going home each night) during the postseason, expressing confidence in its existing protocols. It did leave open the possibility of teams using voluntary local bubbles.
The Browns said their facility was closed while contact tracing was taking place. The disruptions continue for the Browns ahead of their first playoff game in 18 years, scheduled for Sunday night at Pittsburgh, which Stefanski will have to miss.
“The team will continue to consult with the league and medical experts to determine the appropriate next steps as the health and safety of our players, coaches, staff and the entire community remains our highest priority,” the Browns said in a written statement.
The Browns said that their special teams coordinator, Mike Priefer, is to serve as the acting head coach, under their contingency plans.
Saints down four running backs, Browns close facility on eve of NFL regular season finale
Stefanski would be the second NFL head coach to miss a game this season. Darrell Bevell, the interim head coach of the Detroit Lions, missed a Dec. 26 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after he and four of the team’s defensive assistant coaches were placed on five-day quarantines upon being classified as high-risk close contacts.
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Stefanski and the other members of the Browns organization who tested positive are subject to 10-day isolation periods, under the treatment protocols developed by the NFL and the NFL Players Association. They could return to football activities after 10 days if they remain asymptomatic and receive medical clearance.
The Browns-Steelers game remains on as scheduled for 8:15 p.m. Eastern time Sunday at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, the NFL said Tuesday.
“There’s no change to the status of the game,” league spokesman Brian McCarthy said in a written statement. “We are continuing to conduct standard contact tracing to identify any possible high-risk close contacts. If any players or personnel are identified as such, they would remain apart from the team and facilities for five days from the last exposure to a positive individual. They would be eligible to return to the team and play in the game. As you know, there were no positives from tests over the previous couple days.”
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Guard Joel Bitonio and wide receiver KhaDarel Hodge are the Browns players who tested positive in the round of daily coronavirus testing results returned Tuesday, a person familiar with the situation confirmed.
For Stefanski, Bitonio, Hodge and the two assistant coaches who tested positive, their 10-day isolation period began Monday, when their test samples were collected, and would run through Wednesday of next week. They could return to football activities as soon as Thursday of next week.
Any players or coaches classified as high-risk close contacts for exposure as recently as Monday would be eligible to participate in Sunday’s game. For exposure to the virus Monday, the quarantine would run Tuesday through Saturday. In that case, those players or coaches could not travel Saturday with the team. But the Browns could arrange for private travel to Pittsburgh.
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Stefanski and the other Browns coaches who tested positive can coach remotely during the week but not on game day. That's what happened with the Lions when Bevell and Detroit’s defensive assistants were quarantined.
The NFL conducted genomic-sequencing tests on the Browns’ positive cases from last week and found them to be unconnected, according to a person familiar with the situation. So there was not transmission of the virus within the team at that point. The new cases will undergo the same testing, according to that person.
The NFL completed its 256-game regular season Sunday within its originally scheduled 17 weeks. Games were rescheduled throughout the season, especially when the Tennessee Titans and Baltimore Ravens suffered major coronavirus outbreaks. But no games were lost entirely to cancellation and the NFL was not forced to implement its contingency plan of adding an 18th week to the regular season. The San Francisco 49ers played three scheduled home games in Arizona after being displaced because of coronavirus restrictions in Santa Clara, Calif.
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Now 13 games remain in the NFL season, including 12 during the AFC and NFC playoffs and then the Super Bowl scheduled for Feb. 7 in Tampa. That begins with six playoff games this weekend. The NFL has said its protocols will not change during the postseason. But its coronavirus-related complications continue into the playoffs.
The Browns closed their facility three times in a four-day span from last Wednesday through Saturday because of positive coronavirus tests. They practiced at least twice over that four-day span, including once when their facility reopened in the afternoon after being closed in the morning. They beat the Steelers, 24-22, Sunday in Cleveland to improve their record to 11-5 and clinch the franchise’s first playoff berth since the 2002 season.
The Browns had lost their previous game to the New York Jets, 23-16, Dec. 27 in East Rutherford, N.J., after placing four wide receivers and two linebackers on their covid-19 reserve list. That list is for players who test positive and those determined to have been exposed to the virus through contact tracing. Linebacker B.J. Goodson reportedly tested positive and the other players, including Hodge and top wideout Jarvis Landry, were classified as high-risk close contacts. The wide receivers, including Hodge and Landry, were activated last week and played Sunday against the Steelers.
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The loss to the Jets made the Browns the latest team to lose a game during the regular season while at a major competitive disadvantage. The Denver Broncos lost a November game to the New Orleans Saints without any of their four quarterbacks. The Lions lost to the Buccaneers without their coaches. But the Saints did beat the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday without four running backs.
NFL leaders said throughout the season that games were postponed for medical reasons only, not over competitive issues. That approach is to continue into the postseason, and the NFLPA has endorsed that. The NFL decided not to utilize neutral-site bubbles or mandatory local bubbles (which would have entailed a team’s players, coaches and staffers staying in a hotel instead of going home each night) during the postseason, expressing confidence in its existing protocols. It did leave open the possibility of teams using voluntary local bubbles.
