Rick Osentoski / Associated Press
As first-year players prepare to perform early on training grounds, some of them will be unable to participate in team activities.
According to Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network, the NFL Players Association told its members that 12 rookies have tested positive for COVID-19 in the union’s initial wave of detection. The results have only come from nine teams so far.
Tom Pelissero @ @TomPelissero
Those are the results of the nine NFL teams that have obtained results from their initial evaluation round. The NFL knew there would be positive tests. His plan is to isolate those cases and prevent the spread through solid evidence, follow-up contacts, and education.
The league is scheduled to conduct coronavirus testing daily for the first two weeks of camp under an agreement between the NFL and the NFLPA.
If the positivity rate drops below 5 percent after two weeks, the league will go to testing every other day.
Officials with the NFLPA previously reported 59 players (2 percent of tested players) had confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of July 21.
The training camps will officially open on July 28, and more positive tests are expected in the first few days. The league hopes to quickly isolate infected players and start the season on time. The Houston Texans and Kansas City Chiefs are set to open the season on Thursday night soccer on September 10 at Arrowhead Stadium.
A team owner told NFL.com Judy Battista the league expects cases to level off once the camps begin.
The NFLPA has not released the names of the players who tested positive.
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