Dolphins in Intensive COVID-19 Protocol

Miami Dolphins rookie wide receiver Lynn Bowden Jr. was placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list Friday afternoon, hours after the team released a statement saying an assistant coach has tested positive for COVID-19 and the team was in the NFL's intensive protocol.

Bowden and the unidentified coach obviously will not be in Arizona with the team when the Dolphins face the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.

"The assistant coach immediately quarantined, and we are in the NFL's intensive protocol," the Dolphins said in a statement. "We are following all of the guidelines, including contact tracing, and will continue to work with the NFL, team doctors and our training staff."

Statement from the Miami Dolphins. pic.twitter.com/hyYOXpOsGn
— Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) November 6, 2020

The list is measures involved in being in the intensive protocol includes some things the Dolphins already have been doing:

In addition to daily PCR testing, all players and Tier 1 and 2 individuals must receive a daily POC test and test negative before entering the facility and commencing daily activities. This includes PCR and POC tests on game day.

All meetings must occur virtually unless held outdoors or in an indoor facility with masks being worn by all.

Whenever possible, activities will take place either outdoors or in large, open spaces.

PPE/face masks must be worn on the practice fields by players and staff at all times with no exceptions. Oakley face shields affixed to helmets are permitted to be worn during practice and/or walk-throughs.

Players may remove helmet/mask for breaks but should be greater than six feet away from each other when unprotected.

Gloves should also be worn on-field by all players except quarterbacks who may leave the throwing hand uncovered.

Players receiving medical treatment or rehabilitation must wear a mask and face shield. Medical providers must wear the same as well as gloves.

Rehab that involves cardio work may be done out of doors with player unmasked as long as they are by themselves or supervised by one therapist at an appropriate distance.

The weight room will be limited to no more than 10 players at any time regardless of the size of the room. Other personnel in the weight room are limited to five total when players are present. PPE is required.
No team or player gatherings or group football activities will be permitted away from the facility.

The facility will be deep cleaned daily.

Club Infection Control Officers must review close contact information provided by IQVIA with the club general manager and coach on a daily basis.

The immediate fallout of the positive test for the Dolphins assistant is that their practice scheduled for Friday now will be a walk-through.

Head coach Brian Flores conducted is regular Zoom media session before the team was scheduled to fly out to Arizona. He said the team obviously wouldn't have flown had there been a concern of an outbreak.

Flores said the team had prepared to make adjustments in the event of a coach having to miss a game because of COVID-19.

“Yeah, this is something we’ve talked about in training camp," Flores said. "If I go down, if (Special Teams Coordinator) Danny (Crossman) goes down, (Offensive Coordinator) Chan (Gailey), everyone’s got a backup. We’ve gone through this a little bit. We actually practiced it in training camp. Even I was out a day in training camp. We’ve drilled it, so I think we know how to handle the situation. We’ve talked about how we’re going to handle this particular situation already. We’ve got to be able to adapt and be flexible and we’ve got to, as a coaching staff, continue to try to put our players in the best position to have some success. That doesn’t stop because somebody goes down. It’s no different than a player. If a player goes down, his backup has to step in and try to play well.”

The Dolphins had not had a positive COVID-19 test since training camp, while other teams around the league were affected.

“I think we all knew something was going to happen eventually at some point," tight end Mike Gesicki said. "We knew it wasn’t going to be a perfect season where we were going to come in here and there were going to be no positives or anything like that. I think the league has done a good job with their protocols and keeping the health of everybody at the top of the list. We’ve just got to keep moving forward and stay ahead of this thing.”

It was because of COVID-19 that the Dolphins saw their schedule get shuffled a few weeks back.

Their upcoming opponent, Arizona, placed two players on the COVID-19 list last week during its bye — linebacker Devon Kennard and cornerback Byron Murphy Jr.

All NFL players and team personnel who test positive for COVID-19 go through the same protocols. First, they are immediately isolated. They are forbidden to access team facilities and are not allowed to have any direct contact with fellow players or team personnel. They immediately are placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list.

Flores has talked often this season about the need to be able to adapt to whatever circumstances come up.

"We’re in a pandemic," he said. "I think we’re all kind of ... I don’t want to say ‘dealing with it’ ... but we’re all affected by it in some form or fashion. We’re being affected by it right now. There are other cases around the league. I think the protocols that are in place by the league give us the best opportunity, give us the best chance to play and to contain the virus or the infected person as best we can. So we’ve just got to follow those protocols and continue conversation, continue to communicate and have open and honest and transparent conversations with the league, our players. I’ve said this since day one, we can try to do everything right and there can still be positives. I think that’s happening really across the country, definitely across the league and we’ll just try to do our best to contain it. Again, it’s no one’s fault — as long as we are sincerely and authentically trying to do our best to wear the mask, distance and make smart decisions.”