Positive COVID Test Doesn’t Rattle Packers
GREEN BAY, Wis. – Jared Veldheer’s positive COVID-19 test was a source of major consternation outside of 1265 Lombardi Ave.
What about inside?
“You know what, I slept pretty good last night,” coach Matt LaFleur said after Thursday’s practice. “I’m just really confident in our protocols and our approach and how we handle things around here. It’s a great credit to (director of security/risk management) Doug Collins and Flea (head athletic trainer Bryan Engel) just for all the work that they’ve put in and our guys for being disciplined and doing the right things.”
Veldheer was placed on the COVID-19 reserve list on Wednesday. With the offensive line having taken up residency in the media auditorium for social-distancing purposes, there were no high-risk close contacts upon contact tracing on Wednesday, and no positive tests on Thursday. The team conducted business as usual on Thursday, with meetings at the stadium and the final practice of the week.
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“You can’t get anywhere near the closest person to you without getting up and walking towards them,” offensive tackle Billy Turner said of meetings on Thursday. “Thank goodness that it is a giant room. They’re very, very strict about the protocols here at our facility, so in all of our meetings, regardless of the room, there’s definitely a minimum of probably 10 feet between people. Even though I know they say 6 feet, they’re taking those extra risks and that extra precaution so when you do get into a situation like this with somebody like Jared, you have that distance in between and your little tracker thing isn’t going off and beeping because you’re too close to somebody.”
Indianapolis signed Veldheer to the practice squad but elevated him to the active roster and started him in Week 17 and again in last weekend’s playoff loss to Buffalo. Having reverted back to the practice squad, the Packers grabbed him on Monday. He drove to Green Bay and was on the field for Tuesday’s practice. Before the positive test, he was set to become the first player in NFL history to play for two different teams during the same postseason.
That won’t happen, and the Packers will keep their collective fingers crossed that the positive tests begin and end with Veldheer.
“Some of the stuff’s out of your control,” LaFleur said. “One thing that we talked about all season long is you’ve got to be ready to adjust, but until you know what you’re adjusting to, it’s kind of hard to predict, so I’m not going to focus on things that I have no control over. We’re going to focus on playing the L.A. Rams, we’re going to focus on doing the best job we can to prepare our guys to get ready to play, and that’s where our sole focus lies.”
