Jaguars Place Chris Claybrooks On Reserve/COVID-19 List

The Jacksonville Jaguars have placed defensive back and return man Chris Claybrooks on the Reserve/COVID list. He is the fourth member of the club this week to be placed on the list.

The Jacksonville have placed defensive back and return man Chris Claybrooks on the Reserve/COVID-19 list, the team announced Saturday. He is the fourth player that the club has placed on the COVID list in the past two days.

Claybrooks joins quarterback Jake Luton, cornerback CJ Henderson and cornerback Luq Barcoo were all placed on the Reserve/COVID list on Friday. 

The Reserve/COVID-19 list is a reserve category created by the NFL for a player who either tests positive for COVID-19 or who has been quarantined after having been in close contact with an infected person or persons.

The NFL outlined the protocols for COVID-19 positive tests among employees in a memo to teams earlier this week.

According to the memo per NFL.com, if a vaccinated person tests positive and is asymptomatic, they will be isolated and contact tracing will occur. The positive individual will be permitted to return after two negative tests which are at least 24-hours apart and will then be tested every two weeks or as directed. Those who are vaccinated will not be subject to quarantine as a result of close contact with an infected person, the memo stated.

"If an unvaccinated person tests positive, the protocols from 2020 will remain in effect," the memo continued.

"The person will be isolated for a period of 10 days and will then be permitted to return to duty if asymptomatic. Unvaccinated individuals will continue to be subject to a five-day quarantine period if they have close contact with an infected individual." 

Claybrooks is a second year player, drafted in the seventh round of the 2020 NFL Draft out of Memphis. He was primarily drafted to be a return man, and accumulated 190 yards in that regard. But the Jaguars instead favored veteran Keelan Cole for most of the season on special teams. 

However, injuries at the corner position forced Claybrooks to see time at defensive back sooner than planned. Once there, he saw action in 13 games, starting four at corner. He finished with 38 tackles and three passes defended. According to Pro Football Focus, Claybrooks allowed a 145.6 passer rating. 

As the Jaguars worked through minicamp this June, corner Shaquill Griffin bragged on Claybrooks and other young DB's. 

"You talk about [Chris] Claybrooks and Luq [Barcoo] and you’re talking about CJ Henderson, all these guys who are looking forward to being at the first day of training camp. This is all—especially for Claybrooks, this is all I’m talking about. ‘I can’t wait to get back to training camp, I can’t wait.’ So, they’re working their butts off." 

Jaguars rookie's arrived this past Tuesday to training camp, with the rest of the team set to join them this coming Tuesday, July 27.  

On Thursday, the league set forth sweeping incentives to push players to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, including but not limited to, teams being forced to forfeit a game if an outbreak amongst unvaccinated players decimated the roster to an unplayable number. It is not known whether or not Claybrooks has been vaccinated.