Packers DL Coach Montgomery Out After Positive COVID Test

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Having tested positive for COVID-19, defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery was not present at Green Bay Packers practice on Thursday.

His is the first positive test within the team’s ranks since the team convened for the start of training camp in late July.

Speaking before practice, coach Matt LaFleur declined to answer whether there had been other positive tests, but all the players on the roster and the rest of the position coaches were on the field as the team started its prep for Monday night’s game against the Detroit Lions.

Montgomery, like the rest of the coaches, is vaccinated, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Tom Silverstein reported, so he’d be available for the game so long as he passes two consecutive tests taken over a span of 24 hours.

Any player or coach who is not vaccinated but tests positive must be isolated from the team for at least 10 days. That’s the same timeline as last season.

There have been several positive tests among the coaching staff of the New Orleans Saints, who the Packers lost to in Sunday’s season opener. Through the league’s contact tracking, none of those coaches were deemed high-risk close contacts for the Packers’ staff.

“The (league) e-mailed us and told us who those people could potentially be, but there was no high-risk close contacts based on what the league told us,” he said.

Last season, the Packers had six players sidelined by positive tests, led by running back AJ Dillon, who was out for 39 days, and linebacker Krys Barnes, who was out for 27. In addition, kicker Mason Crosby and tight end Jace Sternberger were among a handful of players who tested positive before the first practice.