It took till Week Four for the NFL schedule to be disrupted by COVID-19.

Optimistic checks amongst Tennessee Titans gamers and personnel have been reported on Tuesday, and that instantly put the Titans’ recreation Sunday in opposition to the Pittsburgh Steelers doubtful.

The NFL made it official Wednesday morning that the sport could be rescheduled to Monday or Tuesday:

Yahoo Sports activities’ Terez Paylor confirmed the preliminary information after it was first reported by ESPN’s Dianna Russini.

The additional day or two offers the NFL extra time for testing and speak to tracing. The league might have hoped to maintain the sport on Sunday, however the extra prudent strategy was to attend a bit longer.

NFL video games have been postponed and canceled earlier than

It’s not unprecedented for the NFL to maneuver video games from Sunday to a day or two later within the week. Now we have seen it for snowstorms, stadium points and even wildfires. There has even been postponements, most notably after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist assaults.

Largely, we’re used to the NFL taking part in on time.

When the Titans information broke Monday, the workforce needed to droop in-person actions instantly. The sport being performed as scheduled on Sunday was in jeopardy and the league thought-about contingency plans, comparable to transferring the sport to Monday or Tuesday.

Altering the day of the sport isn’t supreme, however transferring it to a different week would have been sophisticated.

Nissan Stadium, residence of the Tennessee Titans, was scheduled to host the Titans-Pittsburgh Steelers recreation on Sunday of Week 4. (AP Picture/Mark Humphrey)

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NFL anticipated constructive checks

That is unlikely to be the final time this season a constructive check results in the NFL adjusting its schedule.

In a memo to groups, obtained by ESPN, Goodell stated the Titans information didn’t shock the league.

“This isn’t sudden,” Goodell stated within the memo. “There can be gamers and workers who will check constructive in the course of the season.”

It’s simpler for Main League Baseball to postpone video games. They’ll play doubleheaders. The St. Louis Cardinals have been shut down for some time on account of a COVID-19 outbreak however nonetheless ended up taking part in 58 of 60 scheduled video games, with loads of doubleheaders. The NFL can’t do the identical. The schedule is pretty inflexible and until groups have the identical bye week, transferring a recreation to a different week isn’t attainable with out shuffling many video games round.

For now, the shift for Titans-Steelers was minor and Week Four will go on principally as scheduled. It in all probability received’t be the final time the NFL has to contemplate a schedule adjustment on account of coronavirus.

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