Report: NFL Investigating Possible COVID Protocol Violations

As of Sunday, the Titans have had positive tests six consecutive days with nine players and nine coaches impacted.

NASHVILLE -- Mike Vrabel said no one is to blame.

The NFL and NFL Players’ Association will be the judges of that.

According to reports Sunday, the Titans are under investigation for possible violations of the agreed upon COVID-19 protocols.

As of Sunday morning, nine players and nine staff members have tested positive for the coronavirus in less than a week. There have been six straight days of positive tests, including Sunday when another player and another staff member were found to have the virus, multiple outlets reported. Among those currently on the COVID-19 reserve list are starting defensive linemen DaQuan Jones and Jeffery Simmons, wide receiver Adam Humphries and rookie cornerback Kristian Fulton.

According to SI.com’s Albert Breer, officials have been in town since Friday as part of their investigation.

From NFL.com:

Sources say the NFL and NFLPA, who could wrap up their investigation in a few days, are looking into whether protocols were violated on wearing the mandatory Kinexon tracking devices, leading to gaps in tracking data used in contact tracing, and whether individuals failed to timely report symptoms they or their family members were experiencing, among other things.

“I feel comfortable that since receiving the protocols in August, we’ve followed those by the letter, and that we were conscious of everything that we did,” Vrabel, the Titans head coach said Wednesday, in the early stages of this breakout. “This is a very unfortunate situation, but one that we're confident that we will be able to handle safely with the football team and the players’ best interest in mind.”

The outbreak among the Titans already has prompted the NFL to reschedule Sunday’s contest with Pittsburgh until Week 7 and to close the team’s training facility until further notice. With each passing day, the prospect that the next game, Oct. 11 against Buffalo, will be postponed or canceled grows.

The team must have at least two straight days with no positive tests before those not on the COVID-19 reserve list can get back to work. That means, at this point the earliest Tennessee can resume any sort of normal activities is Wednesday. When players and coaches do get back to work, they will do so under a restrictive set of “Post Exposure” protocols.

“I think we're resolved in our focus to move forward, to try to continue to do everything we can do to make where the players come to work every day and our staff comes to work every day as safe as possible, to make sure that our behavior is in line with what we would expect as we work our way through the season,” Vrabel said Thursday. “We'll keep forging ahead and confident that we'll get everyone healthy, and that we’ll continue to make it a safe environment and to try to make sure that the players’ safety and their families and our coaches are at the forefront.”