The NFL and NFLPA announced Tuesday morning that the Tennessee Titans COVID testing results returned three new player positives and five new personnel positives. The identity of the players and personnel who tested positive has not been released. Both the Titans and Minnesota Vikings, who hosted the Titans last Sunday, have suspended in-person operations. Additional tests will be performed to confirm the positive results and contact tracing has started. The news of the Titans positive COVID test results puts Sunday’s matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers in jeopardy. Let’s take a look at potential schedule adjustments for the Titans.
Tennessee Titans COVID Schedule Adjustments
— NFL (@NFL) September 29, 2020
This Sunday
Of course the first possibility would be to play the game as scheduled, this Sunday at 1PM EST. This option appears unlikely without additional tests proving false positives. Dianna Russini with ESPN, along with others, has reported that the Titans facilities will be closed until Saturday. The Titans are unlikely to play Sunday afternoon without the opportunity to practice the week leading up to the game. If the COVID tests are confirmed positive, don’t expect the Titans and Steelers to play Sunday.
A league source just texted me: "We are shutting Tennessee down until Saturday"
That means no Titans coaches or players can be in the building.— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) September 29, 2020
Tuesday Night Football
Assuming the Titans are unable to play Sunday, the earliest return to the field would likely be next Tuesday night. Teams who play on Thursday night have three full days to prepare. If the Titans are able to return to team facilities on Saturday, they would have three days to prepare for a Tuesday night game. This option also appears unlikely as the NFL likely won’t deviate from their usual Sunday, Monday, and Thursday weekly schedule of games. The NFL would also have to consider competing with the NBA Finals and MLB playoffs, both of which have games scheduled next Tuesday night.
Shifting Bye Weeks
This is where it gets interesting. The Titans have their bye week scheduled for Week 7 while the Steelers have their bye Week 8. Week 4 could become both team’s bye week, not ideal this early in the season, but is anything ideal in this wacky 2020? The Steelers are scheduled to play the Baltimore Ravens Week 7 and both teams have their scheduled bye Week 8. The NFL could move the Steelers – Ravens game to week eight and the Titans – Steelers game to week seven.
Another solution would be to rearrange the Steelers – Jaguars game scheduled for late November. The Titans and Jaguars have the same schedule bye, Week 7. The Titans could have their bye this week and the NFL could move the Titans – Jaguars Week 14 game to Week 7. This would push the Jaguars bye week back from Week 7 to Week 11, and the Titans – Steelers game would be played November 22nd.
As to the question of postponed or canceled or rescheduled games: We talked about this a lot prior to the season, but teams and fans are going to have to accept the strong possibility that the outcome will be, in some way, unfair from a competitive standpoint.
— Dan Graziano (@DanGrazianoESPN) September 29, 2020
Regardless, if the tests results are confirmed positive, the NFL will have a challenge rescheduling games in a manner that is fair for each team involved. No matter what happens, the Titans will have to rise to the occasion. In the meantime, the Titans official statement said that out of an abundance of caution, the organization is working remotely and will have more information in the coming days. This season was always in question as the COVID pandemic took hold throughout the world. The NFL decided to move forward with the season as originally scheduled. This will be the league’s first test handling an outbreak within one of its organizations. Stay tuned.
Main Photo:
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