Report: NFL Shutting Down Patriots' Facility Sunday Morning, Game vs. Broncos in Question

More bad news has risen prior to New England's Week 5 game; the NFL is shutting down the Patriots' facility Sunday morning, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. The team is testing this morning and awaiting further instruction from the league.

NFL is shutting down the Patriots’ facility this morning, marking the third shutdown there in 10 days, sources tell me and @FieldYates. Patriots are testing this morning and awaiting further direction from the NFL. But the status of Monday night’s game vs. Denver is in question.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 11, 2020

Several minutes later Schefter confirmed that the Patriots do in fact have another positive case of COVID-19 in their building. The positive test is from their round of testing on Saturday.

Patriots had one new positive test this morning, source tells ESPN. Their building is now shut down while further testing is conducted.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 11, 2020

On Friday, Oct. 2, quarterback Cam Newton tested positive for the coronavirus, which forced him to miss the Patriots' Week 4 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs last Monday night. That same weekend, practice squad defensive tackle Bill Murray also tested positive, and was placed on the COVID-19/reserve list with Newton. On Tuesday, Oct. 6, reigning Defensive Player of the Year and cornerback Stephon Gilmore tested positive, which forced the second shutdown in New England. This caused the Patriots to take extra precautions, which included holding only one physical practice ahead of their game against Denver, which took place on Saturday.

Another positive test just one day before New England plays host to Denver -- which is a game that had already been pushed from Sunday to Monday -- means the NFL should postpone that game. However, we've seen the league stretch the protocols a bit to ensure games are played on time, which was evident after Newton's positive test when the Patriots were forced to travel on game day to Kansas City in order to play their Monday night game.

Let's hope the league does the right thing and pushes the Patriots' Week 5 game to later in the season. It's worth noting that New England has a bye week in Week 6, and Denver has one in Week 8.

As NFL Media's Judy Battista noted last week, if the positive test in New England is a player that has already been listed as a close contact of an already-infected player, the league plans on kicking off the Patriots-Denver game at its scheduled time.

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