According to ProFootballTalk’s Mike Florio, a New Orleans Saints player who was on the flight to Detroit has tested positive for COVID-19. Florio did not name the player who tested positive, but reported the Saints are testing everyone who came into contact with that individual.
This comes on the heels of a rough week in the NFL. The Tennessee Titans have had a full outbreak. Though they closed their facilities on Monday, 18 Titans players and employees have tested positive throughout the week. Then on Saturday, Patriots quarterback Cam Newton tested positive for COVID.
The NFL took action with the previous two incidents, postponing the Titans vs. Steelers game for a few weeks and pushing the Chiefs vs. Patriots games back to at least Monday, more likely Tuesday.
At this point, it’s unclear if the Lions game will still happen on Sunday. You’d have to imagine if the COVID-positive player was aboard the Saints’ team plane to Detroit, the league may want to take the cautious route and postpone the game until it’s abundantly clear it wasn’t spread throughout the team.
Per Jay Glazer, the Saints are following up with POC (point of care) tests which have faster turnaround times to compare to the positive tests they received.
We’ll update the story as more news comes in.
UPDATE: Per Florio, the Saints player is former Lions fullback Michael Burton. Contact tracing have identified three players that have come into close contact with Burton, including star running back Alvin Kamara. Florio is reporting that the Saints are waiting on testing of seven players, including a retest of Burton.