The New England Patriots officially placed Cam Newton on the reserve / COVID-19 list on Saturday after a positive test for quarterback on Friday night.
When can Newton return to the active roster? It depends.
The NFL’s return-to-play protocol is different for players who test positive but are asymptomatic and who show symptoms.
Through the NFL’s COVID-19 handbook, the requirements for both groups are:
– Asymptomatic players can be activated once again 10 days have passed since the initial positive test Or Five days have passed since the initial positive test And The player gives two consecutive negative PCR virus tests separated by 24 hours.
– Featured players can’t come back until then The first COVID symptoms appear at least 10 days later And At least 72 hours have passed since the symptoms came last.
Players from both groups must also be cleared by their team’s chief physician before returning.
It is not clear whether Newton is pathological. If not, he could theoretically return in time for New England’s Week 5 matchup against the Denver Broncos next Sunday.
If he is symptomatic, he will miss at least this week’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs (which was postponed until Monday or Tuesday) and the Broncos game. The Patriots currently have a 6-week bye, so with the exception of a schedule change, early Newton could return to the field in this scenario, San Francisco 49 vs. 25 October.
The Patriots will be able to replace Newton on the 53-man roster with another player until QB returns. PV signal-collector Brian Hoyer is expected to launch against Kansas City, several sources told NESN.com that the second-year pro Jarrett will serve as a stadium backup.
Hoyer, 34, has started 38 career games for six different franchises, but this will be his first start in the Patriots uniform. He has been New England’s QB2 since the start of the season, with Stidham – who introduced three waste-times as a backup to Tom Brady last season – putting the first three games off to a healthy start.
Thumbnail photo by J. N. Nicholson / USA Today Sports Images
