Titans rising star defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons was moved to the team’s Reserve/COVID list on Saturday, indicating that he is the eighth player to have tested positive for coronavirus since September 28th.
Simmons joins Adam Humphries, Cameron Batson, Kristian Fulton, Kamalei Correa, DaQuan Jones, Beau Brinkley and Tommy Hudson on the Reserve/COVID list. He is the second interior defensive lineman to test positive.
Simmons is the most noteworthy Titans player thus far to have contracted the virus after having a breakout game of sorts in Week 3.
The Titans’ Week 4 matchup with the Steelers has already been moved to Week 7, and the NFL is dealing with serious COVID scheduling impacts after more positive results were found on Saturday.
Along with Simmons, Patriots’ quarterback Cam Newton has tested positive, along with Chiefs practice squad quarterback Jordan Ta’amu. The NFL has already announced the postponement of this weekend’s Patriots-Chiefs game, with the new date still undetermined. It will likely depend on whether either team reports any more positive cases between now and Monday morning.
Meanwhile, the Titans will begin preparing for the Buffalo Bills in Week 5 with the status of many key players, most notably Simmons, Humphries, Jones and Fulton, completely unknown. The Titans depth at defensive tackle will be severely tested if both Jones and Simmons are forced to miss the contest.
The timetable for these players to get back in the building will depend on whether or not they’ve exhibited symptoms. Joe Rexrode is reporting that of the players who’ve shown symptoms to this point, none appear to be serious cases. But we still don’t know who or how many players are symptomatic.
Mike has detailed the return to play protocols and how the situation could impact the team going forward; be sure to check that out here:
Obviously, our thoughts are with the players and staff members who have contracted the virus, and we wish them all a speedy recovery.
For now, we wait to see if the Titans have any more positive tests. More cases on Sunday morning would officially put next week’s game in jeopardy of being postponed or canceled.
