Will the NFL make it through all 256 games?
Mike Florio and Peter King discuss how the Patriots and the NFL handles Newton's COVID case.
Video Transcript
MIKE FLORIO: So much has happened, Peter, in one week. And one of the big things that occurred, the Patriots had a positive result for, of all people, their franchise quarterback, Cam Newton, taking two planes to and from Kansas City, one with 20 or so who had close contact with Cam Newton, and the other plane with everyone else, acknowledging that they're not out of the woods yet. The incubation period continues to be the donut hole that the NFL will never escape. And whether it's the Patriots or anyone else, this cascading effect that we saw last week for the Titans could still happen with the New England Patriots, and it continues to hover over whether or not the NFL is going to get all 256 games in this season.
PETER KING: Yeah, Mike, on Sunday, I had a prominent epidemiologist tell me that to be safe, you should not engage in anything like a football game for four or five days after the positive person basically has come out. So I talked to the NFL, talked to Allen Sills about that, the chief medical officer, and his point was basically, well, the person who was infected was not infected on Friday. He first showed positivity on Friday. But in the NFL's opinion, and, Mike, also, in the NFLPA's opinion-- because they do this together-- that what has to happen is that you test positive on Friday, but it was Tuesday or Wednesday where you were exposed to it. So if all the people on your team had been exposed to you for a couple of days, then what happens is, that is the incubation period.
I think they were relatively safe in playing this game on Monday night. But you're absolutely right, there still could be a positive test or two left over because the incubation period is-- at best, shows up four to five days afterwards. And that is the donut hole in all this. You said it. No matter how many tests the NFL gives its players-- look at what happened with the Tennessee Titans. Positive tests for six days after the first positive showed up. That is what the NFL is going to battle all season.