Which Titans Tackled the Ravens RBs Who Tested Positive for COVID?
More than halfway through the 2020 NFL season, there has been no evidence that COVID-19 is spread through on-field contact during a game.
The Tennessee Titans either will enforce that belief or blow it up in the coming days.
The Baltimore Ravens closed their training facility Monday and planned to conduct all activities virtually until further notice after several members of the organization tested positive for COVID-19. A day earlier, the Titans and Ravens went toe-to-toe in a game that went to overtime and lasted three hours, 13 minutes before Tennessee won 30-24.
Those who tested positive included J.K. Dobbins and Mark Ingram, running backs who combined for 17 rushes and two pass receptions in that contest. Dobbins (pictured) scored a second-quarter touchdown but a Titans player (sometimes two) brought him and Ingram to ground on their other 18 touches.
“I think that what happens is (the league goes) back through the contact tracing and they look at it from the gameday with the people that are involved, and then go from there,” coach Mike Vrabel said Monday of what happens next for his team. “We'll wait to see. We're focused on what it is that we're doing here.
“They'll update us on whether they think we need to have a discussion about what transpired from the game.”
Football, of course, is not a contact sport. It is a collision sport, with any number of players slamming into one another on each play.
Arguably, the most sustained contact comes from tackles when one player – or more – wraps up the ball carrier and takes him to the ground where each typically takes a breath or two before they get back to their feet.
Based on the official game stats, 11 different players on Tennessee’s defense tackled Dobbins and Ingram on Sunday. Keep that in mind over the coming days, if the Titans begin to produce positive COVID tests.
A rundown of the Titans who tackled J.K. Dobbins and Mark Ingram on Sunday, and how many times they did so:
• Will Compton, ILB: two solo, two assisted
• Harold Landry, OLB: two solo, one assisted
• Jeffery Simmons, DT: one solo, two assisted
• Amani Hooker, S: one solo, two assisted
• Kevin Byard, S: two solo
• Desmond King, CB: one solo, one assisted
• Rashaan Evans, ILB: one solo, one assisted
• Matt Dickerson, DE: one solo, one assisted
• Derick Roberson, OLB: one solo
• Jayon Brown, ILB: one assisted
• Teair Tart, DT: one assisted
The Titans (7-3), like every other NFL team, have operated under advanced COVID-19 protocols for the last several weeks. The policy includes daily testing, including gamedays, among other things.
The idea is to minimize opportunities for exposure and – if someone is infected – to limit the spread so that no other team has the type of outbreak Tennessee did early last month.
“Players are physically distanced in meetings, reviewing the tape,” Vrabel said. “We had 10 guys in the weight room at a time (Monday) morning. [We are] just following all those guidelines and protocols.
“I guess we'll wait to hear from the league on any of the contact tracing.”
