Vikings Have Zero Positive COVID-19 Tests, Returning to Practice Today

The Vikings haven't had a lot of things go their way on the field during their winless start to the 2020 season, but they appear to have caught a major break this week. They reported zero positive COVID-19 tests from Wednesday's round of testing, making it several days in a row without a single positive test. That means they'll return to practice at TCO Performance Center on Thursday, and – barring an unforeseen change – will travel to Houston this weekend to take on the Texans as scheduled.

The Tennessee Titans are currently experiencing the NFL's first coronavirus outbreak. They're up to 11 positive tests, including five players, and as a result have had their game against the Steelers this week postponed to later in the season.

The Vikings hosted the Titans in Minneapolis last Sunday, creating some serious concern that the virus might have spread and infected any number of people in the organization. The Vikings shut down their facility on Tuesday when news emerged of the Titans' first eight positive tests, and they began conducting rapid testing. With several Titans staff members testing positive who had traveled to Minnesota, and multiple players who participated in the game (including DT DaQuan Jones, who played 51 snaps), there was reason to be concerned about the outbreak reaching the Vikings.

Luckily, they seem to have avoided any spread.

"This morning the Vikings received zero positive results from all PCR and POC tests conducted on players, coaches and football operations staff," the team said in a statement. "As a result, TCO Performance Center has opened for team activities."

It appears that the only negative outcome of this COVID scare for the Vikings is that they lost a couple days of preparation for the Texans. They'll have full practices Thursday and Friday and potentially "a knocked-down version of a Friday practice on Saturday before we get on the plane," GM Rick Spielman said on Wednesday.

"We’re not looking at any excuses to make. This is what we’re dealing with and Coach Zim made that a point of emphasis in the team meeting that we’ll be ready and prepared to play on Sunday."

The Vikings have also implemented enhanced safety protocols for their return to the facility this week. Given that it can take up to two weeks for COVID symptoms to appear, there's no guarantee that they're completely in the clear. However, these consecutive days of zero positive tests are great news and will allow the team to return to normal preparation for their game this weekend.

All #Vikings players wore face coverings in today’s walkthrough and will either wear masks or special mouth shields for practice, per sources.

No positive COVID-19 tests so far for Minnesota, but an extra layer of protection after exposure to the #Titans outbreak last weekend.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) October 1, 2020

The 0-3 Vikings and 0-3 Texans are set to kick off at 12 p.m. central time on Sunday from NRG Stadium in Houston.

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