Newton & Gilmore Update: Both Players Reportedly On Track To Play Sunday vs. Broncos

COVID-19 struck the New England Patriots recently, creating four positive tests among players on the team. Those players are quarterback Cam Newton, defensive tackle Bill Murray, cornerback Stephon Gilmore and defensive tackle Byron Cowart.

In this case, three of the players that tested positive for the virus are starters, and two of them -- Gilmore and Newton -- are two of the most important pieces on each side of the football for New England.

So when the Patriots' game against the Broncos was postponed until next Sunday, Oct. 18, there was a sense of relief. Instead of potentially having to play another game without their starting quarterback and the first without the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, New England instead got an unscheduled week of rest a week earlier than expected (their originally-scheduled bye week was Week 6).

That doesn't necessarily guarantee that any of the four Patriots players that tested positive for the coronavirus will be cleared for Week 6 football. However, based on recent reporting, Gilmore and Newton are on track to play against Denver at Gillette Stadium Sunday afternoon.

"Well I can tell you that from everything I'm hearing, [Stephon] Gilmore has remained asymptomatic, and from what I'm hearing, he's feeling like he is going to be good to go this week." NFL Media's Mike Giardi said on Around The NFL on Monday. "Now, again; they don't really want to tell us if they've gotten two negative tests or all systems are clear. But the feeling I'm getting from talking to people around the team, from talking to people around Gilmore, is that Gilmore feels like he's going to be out there."

Will Cam and Gilmore be good to go Sunday? Also, ignore the fact I knocked my microphone right off before I did this hit. Smh. #Patriots @nflnetwork @AroundTheNFL pic.twitter.com/V3aKjD8dri
— Mike Giardi (@MikeGiardi) October 12, 2020

"As of this weekend Cam had still not had the back-to-back negative tests, but, again, because of the way this works, if he's asymptomatic for 10 days the league considers that to be the A-OK to get back on the field."

As Giardi mentioned, if Newton and/or Gilmore are asymptomatic and have continued to be since testing positive, they can return to football 10 days after they tested positive. That means Newton could return to football as early as today (Monday, Oct. 12) and Gilmore could return as early as Friday (Oct. 16). That's also assuming that those players don't register back-to-back negative tests, which in that case would make them eligible to return at an earlier date. It is still unknown if Murray and Cowart are experiencing symptoms or are also asymptomatic.

The Patriots have given their players two days off to begin Week 6 preparation, so the team will not hit the practice field until Wednesday. That will be the first opportunity for us to see if Newton, Gilmore, Murray and Cowart are healthy enough to return to football.

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