Ravens have two more positive tests, NFL gives green light for plane to leave for Pittsburgh

The NFL COVID-19 protocols are specific, and stringent. And for good reason. The players, coaches and personnel wearing contact tracers every time they are in the facility helps the medical staff for the league determine who might be high risk contacts to contract the coronavirus.

This is exactly how the league can assume who has a good chance of contracting the virus, and who is in the clear.

There is no need to dive in to the logistics behind what drives these systems, but it is worth noting after it was reported the Baltimore Ravens had two more positive tests, one staffer and one backup player, return before their flight left the ground for Pittsburgh, PA.

This is according to Adam Schefter of ESPN:

Albert Breer, of Monday Morning QB, gave some details on how the league was notified of the positives before they departed Baltimore, and gave them the green light to travel.

It isn’t clear who tested positive, but if the NFL expected them, or knew in advance, to be positive they could have utilized their tools to know whether or not they would need to tell the plane to stay grounded and potentially delay the game again.

At this point, it is obvious the players, and especially the fans, just want to get the game over with. At this point the Steelers have been preparing for the Ravens, albeit a different roster than they are accustomed to, for the past 10 days. If the league were to delay it again, not only would it throw a major wrench in the schedule, but would continue to cause more issues with players going on, and coming off the Reserve/COVID-19 List.

Baltimore is probably on the ground in Pittsburgh already, and you can expect any news and notes surrounding this game to be right here at BTSC.

UPDATE:

For those wondering how this could possibly happen, it turns out the staffer had been isolated, and the player did not travel with the team to Pittsburgh.