Several Dallas Cowboys, Houston Texans Players Have Tested Positive for COVID-19, According to Report

NFL teams are getting ready to start training camp in July, which means football will return very soon. However, there are two teams who are currently dealing with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. According to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, several Dallas Cowboys and Houston Texans players have tested positive for COVD-19. Rapoport said the players were not at the team facilities and the teams are following the guidelines in order to move forward. The belief is the players who tested positive were players who were rehabbing from previous injuries with the training staff. The names of the players have yet to be revealed.

Team facilities are slowly opening back up for coaches and staff members after shutting down in March, but players won’t report until the start of training camp, which will be sometime in late July. While most coaches are looking forward to getting back to work, Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh believes it will be a challenge following the guidelines made by the league. In an interview with 105.7 The Fan’s Inside Access with Jason La Canfora & Ken Weinman, Harbaugh explained why his team will have a hard time practicing social distancing.

“I’ve seen all the memos on that, and to be quite honest with you, it’s impossible what they’re asking us to do. Humanly impossible,” Harbaugh said via the Ravens official website. “We’re going to do everything we can do. We’re going to space, we’re going to have masks. But, you know, this is a communication sport. Harbaugh, who led the Ravens to a Super Bowl win in 2013, said the team has to communicate with each other in person. He added the team will need to practice and “I’m pretty sure the huddle’s not going to be six-feet spaced.” The league sent a memo out to all 32 teams last week, which provided the guidelines for returning. Some of the guidelines include keeping players at least 6 feet apart from each other, which will require redesigning locker rooms, weight rooms and cafeterias.

“Clubs will be required to certify that they have made the arrangements necessary to meet their obligations under these protocols,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell wrote in the memo via ESPN, “and, in certain instances, to provide the details of those arrangements to be reviewed and confirmed by the jointly retained infectious disease experts at (Duke).”