Tennessee Titans, Minnesota Vikings suspend in-person activities after positive coronavirus tests

Dan Hogan, Reporter
October 5, 2020

The Tennessee Titans temporarily closed their facilities Tuesday morning after five personnel and three players tested positive for COVID-19, per ESPN. 

The Minnesota Vikings will also close facilities until further notice despite no positive tests after having played the Titans on Sunday.

As of Friday morning, the total number of players and staff testing positive for COVID-19 had risen to 13, according to CBS Sports.

Tennessee’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers scheduled for Sunday will be postponed, per Sports Illustrated.  The league is also looking at whether or not the Titans next game, against the Buffalo Bills, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry is tackled by several defenders from the Minnesota Vikings on September 27, 2020. Both teams have suspended in-person activities following multiple positive COVID-19 tests among Titans players and staff. (Tennessee Titans/Donald Page)

“Both clubs are working closely with the NFL and the NFLPA, including our infectious disease experts, to evaluate close contacts, perform additional testing and monitor developments,” the league and NFLPA said in a joint-statement. For the Vikings, league contact tracing identified 48 close contacts with the eight members of the Titans who tested positive. 

Players who test positive for COVID-19 and remain asymptomatic can return 10 days after the test or after five days with two consecutive negative tests within a five-day period. Those who show symptoms can return 10 days after the symptoms first appear and 72 hours have passed since any symptoms have ended, according to ESPN.

These are the first reported positive COVID-19 tests for an NFL team this regular season. The league does have a plan in place for what teams will do if they receive any positive tests, but now the football world will get to see how the league will handle the situation.