New England-Kansas City game postponed after players test positive for COVID-19
The NFL said Saturday it had postponed Sunday's game between the New England Patriots and the Kansas City Chiefs to Monday or Tuesday after several players tested positive for coronavirus. The Patriots confirmed one of their players had tested positive for COVID-19, but did not name the player.
ESPN reported one of the players was New England Patriots quarterback Cam Newton, citing league sources. CBS News has not independently confirmed what players tested positive, but CBS Sports confirmed Newton was added to the Reserve/COVID-19 list and would not play.
The Patriots said in a statement on Saturday that they received notice late the night before that a Patriots player tested positive and "immediately entered self-quarantine."
Several additional players, coaches and staff who have been in close contact with the player received point of care tests this morning and all were negative for COVID-19," the Patriots said.
Statement from the New England Patriots. pic.twitter.com/eSTUukh5vl
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) October 3, 2020
The NFL said in a statement that "both clubs are working closely with the NFL and the NFLPLA to evaluate multiple close contacts, perform additional testing and monitor developments. All decisions will be made with the health and safety of players, team and gameday personnel as our primary consideration."
The league has scrambled to address the positive COVID-19 test results. Postponement of Sunday's matchup between the Patriots and the Chiefs, comes a week after at least a dozen members of the Tennessee Titans organization were known to be infected with the virus, forcing the league to reschedule the Titans-Pittsburgh Steelers game to October 25.