Eagles Got Caught Up in Latest NFL COVID Spike, Not Singled Out

PHILADELPHIA - The Eagles didn't get singled out on Friday but they did get caught up as a member of the supporting cast to the stars of an ugly COVID-19 sequel in the NFL.

The likely Omicron-fueled uptick in positives around the league hit three teams so hard that the league was forced to do a 180 and do something it didn't want to do, postpone games.

The hardest-hit clubs were the Washington Football Team, the Eagles' scheduled opponent on Sunday, as well as the Cleveland Browns and the Los Angeles Rams.

When all three of those clubs brought up the F-word, in this case, forfeit, the league and the Players Association were forced to act, pushing back the Browns and Las Vegas Raiders, scheduled for Saturday, to Monday. and both the Eagles-WFT and the Rams vs. the Seattle Seahawks to Tuesday of next week.

Locally, many fans and players were likely using another F-Word to express their disgust while the organization was miffed on being left out of the loop as a bit player in a much larger morality play between the league and the union.

However, if the league accepted forfeits from each of the affected teams, not only would the players from those teams be docked a paycheck, but so would the Eagles, Raiders, and Seahawks.

In other words, that was a non-starter from both sides stemming from a policy originally intended to encourage players to get vaccinated. More so, the threat certainly didn't envision breakthrough infections or docking players who did everything they were supposed to do.

The ultimate goal here, according to a league source, and amplified by the NFL's most powerful owner on a Dallas-area radio station, the Cowboys' Jerry Jones, is a seismic shift in the protocols that have come unhinged due to those breakthrough infections.

The hope is that the league can now convince an NFLPA being pushed by a growing number of players to stop testing vaccinated, asymptomatic players as early as next week.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones on @1053thefan on the NFL's COVID-19 testing going forward: "I think we will get to a point probably this week that we'll only test if symptomatic, that's if you've been vaccinated. That's a good thing. Test when you're symptomatic and that's it."
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) December 17, 2021

NFL chief medical officer Allen Sills explained earlier this week that most of the well-over 100 players testing positive for the virus this week were in fact vaccinated and asymptomatic.

According to NFL Media, the union has received feedback that a majority of players want to eliminate COVID protocols entirely for the vaccinated, meaning no more testing, quarantining, or masking although the NFLPA leadership is fighting back against that sentiment for now.

A notable dynamic: Sources say the NFLPA has received feedback that a majority of players want to eliminate COVID protocols altogether. No more testing, quarantining, etc. That sentiment isn’t shared by union leadership, which has continued to advocate for daily testing.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) December 17, 2021

Pulling that off would not only ensure that the 2021 season will hit the finish line on time but it would also shape the NFL as a leader in a much-needed societal change that begins to move the country into the next phase of COVID-19, the realization that the virus is endemic.

As for the Eagles, the belief that they are being punished is both understandable and short-sighted.

Moving the game back 48 hours creates a short week in advance of the New York Giants but extra hurdles against teams you should beat anyway is a small price to pay for helping a reactive mentality that has spawned nothing but uncertainty into proactive steps toward normalcy.

It also gives the Eagles' starting quarterback, Jalen Hurts, 48 extra hours to get his sprained left ankle right.

The NFL will get criticized for giving three teams preferential treatment during one week in December but if the tables were turned the league would have also done the same for Philadelphia, Las Vegas, and Seattle.

And if Omicron is as advertised you'll get to test that thesis very quickly.

-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on both PhillyVoice.com and YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Extending the Play" on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen

Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Eagle Maven and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglemaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.