Packer Central

Campbell Lands on COVID-19 List

De’Vondre Campbell has been the difference-making linebacker the Packers had lacked for years. Here's the data on Campbell and COVID rates around the NFL.

Bill Huber

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers placed star linebacker De’Vondre Campbell on the COVID-19 reserve list on Tuesday, the team announced.

According to NFL Network, Campbell tested positive for the coronavirus.

The Packers are on their bye week. So long as Campbell is symptom-free, he will be available for the team’s next game, the Dec. 12 home contest against the Chicago Bears.

Signed in mid-June, Campbell has been the difference-making linebacker the Packers had lacked for years.

“De’Vondre, how was he not wanted by anybody?” quarterback Aaron Rodgers said after Sunday’s 36-28 victory over the Los Angeles Rams.

Campbell has played a huge role in a defense that ranks fifth in points and seventh in yards to help power the team’s 9-3 start.

He is eighth in the NFL with 98 tackles. Of the top 10 in tackles, Campbell is the only player with at least one sack, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and one interception.

According to Sports Info Solutions, his average tackle has come 2.1 yards downfield. With five missed tackles, his missed-tackle rate is 4.9 percent. Of the 54 linebackers with at least 50 tackles, Campbell ranks fifth in tackle percentage and 20th in tackle distance.

“There’s a lot of guys who might not be big-name guys who have been playing really good football for us,” Rodgers said last week. “I think it starts with De’Vondre in the middle, what he’s added, getting in the passing lanes, tackling, really sure tackler. Good job in the pressure game as well. I think he’s played great.”

COVID rates in the NFL are on the uptick, as they are across the country as people spend more time indoors with the onset of colder weather.

According to longtime NFL writer Howard Balzer, who covers the Cardinals for SI, there were 26 positive tests and six high-risk contacts in September. In October, there were 24 positives and five high-risk contacts. With one day remaining in November, there were 74 positive tests and three high-risk contacts. For comparison, last year as of Nov. 28, there were 155 positive tests since the start of training camp. This year, there have been 220 positive tests through Nov. 29.

That data mirrors Green Bay. This month, quarterbacks Aaron Rodgers and Kurt Benkert, outside linebacker Jonathan Garvin, cornerback Isaac Yiadom and Campbell tested positive. Starting with players arriving for training camp through Halloween, Green Bay had only four positives during the first two-plus months of the season: linebacker Ray Wilborn in July, defensive tackle Tyler Lancaster in September and receivers Malik Taylor and Davante Adams in October.

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.

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