Ezekiel Elliott & 'Multiple' Cowboys Test Positive For COVID-19
FRISCO - The Dallas Cowboys are declining comment about the NFL Network story that reports "multiple'' members of the football team have tested positive for COVID-19. But Ezekiel Elliott's agent says the star running back has indeed contracted the Coronavirus.
Elliott "is one of the players who has tested positive for the Coronavirus, his agent Rocky Arceneaux confirmed to me,'' writes Ian Rapoport. "Arceneaux said Elliott is feeling good.''
HIPAA laws (which Elliott himself ponders here, suggesting the original "leak' isn't from his agent) preclude two members of the organization contacted by CowboysSI.com to comment on the story from reporters Rapoport and Tom Pelissero. The "no comments,'' of course, are not denials - and, it's important to note, the positive tests are not necessarily serious threats to the players allegedly involved.
NFL Network notes, that "none of the players are believed to have been in their team facilities'' and that the Cowboys (and the Houston Texans, also reportedly with multiple positives) both have followed proper health protocols.
The protocols, so far and going forward, are not without flaws. Some of the rules going forward include lockers needing to be at least six feet apart and then different restrictions on meeting sizes, wearing masks, encouraging virtual meetings and the like.
Some coaches recently spoke to MMQB's Albert Breer to express some issues.
“We’re banging heads in 1-on-1 drills, licking fingers to throw and snap footballs, high-fiving after good plays, breathing on one another after great tackles, huddling over 100 snaps a day, standing on sidelines shoulder-to-shoulder during 11-on-11s, but we need to be six feet apart all other times. Makes zero sense," one NFC head coach said. "Try scheduling for that protocol. I just stopped doing it. Too many what-ifs.''
A veteran assistant added: “Can’t have 20 or more in a defensive unit meeting BUT we can walk thru on the field? Makes no sense.”
Cowboys staffers were recently allowed inside team HQ at The Star but players are not yet officially allowed inside unless rehabbing.
The league has already cancelled traveling for training camps and continues to weigh whether the preseason might be cut in half, among other decisions driven by the pandemic.
