High Profile Rookie is Latest COVID Case

Second-round pick Kristian Fulton joins first-round choice Isaiah Wilson, others on Titans' COVID-19 reserve list.

NASHVILLE – Now, the Tennessee Titans’ top two picks in the 2020 NFL Draft are on the COVID-19 reserve list.

Cornerback Kristian Fulton, the second-round selection, is the latest Titans player to test positive for the coronavirus. Franchise officials placed Fulton on the COVID-19 reserve list Thursday.

He joins first-round choice Isaiah Wilson, who has been on that same list since Sept. 6, as well as nose tackle DaQuan Jones, outside linebacker Kamalei Correa and long snapper Beau Brinkley, who were added this week when the team was hit with a COVID outbreak. Additionally, tight end Tommy Hudson and cornerback Greg Mabin are on the COVID-19 Practice Squad list.

Tennessee has had players and staff members test positive three days straight, and there is no way to know how-far reaching the virus is within the organization. Six staff members and five players have tested positive in the last week.

“You don't sleep much, and you wake up early waiting for the results and kind of know that (more positive tests) could be a possibility,” coach Mike Vrabel said Thursday. “[I am] very confident in the way that we handled the situation as it relates to the protocol, and what my opinions are going forward, I don't have any because I have to rely on the league and our doctors and the Players Association’s doctors to make the protocols, and for us to do everything we can to follow them.”

Fulton has been one of the Titans’ most productive rookies through the first three weeks of the season. He is the only Tennessee player – and one of 11 across the league – with at least one sack and one interception (he has one of each). He also has been credited with nine tackles, one quarterback pressure and one tackle for loss.

“So far, I feel like it’s been getting better for me every week,” Fulton said recently. “I feel like getting playing time early is slowing everything down for me. So, that helps me out on the field. Once everything slows down for you, you can just be yourself and play your game.”

Now, his rookie season has come to a sudden stop.