Kevin Stefanski, Cleveland Browns. (USA Today)
The Cleveland Browns are dealing with the NFL’s first COVID-19 issue of the 2021 season.
After one Cleveland Browns player tested positive for COVID on Tuesday, several players had to be sent home and forced into quarantine due to being deemed close contacts.
The Athletic’s Lindsey Thiry reported those that were sent home from the Browns’ facility on Tuesday were between their first and second doses of the vaccine. The NFL requires players who are not fully vaccinated to go into quarantine after being exposed to the coronavirus. However, the NFL will lessen its COVID restrictions on a team once the 85-percent vaccinated threshold is met.
Teams that do not surpass thethreshold will be at a major competitive disadvantage throughout this upcoming 2021 NFL season.
Cleveland Browns players sent home from OTAs due to COVID-19 protocols
While it is still way too early in the process for all 32 NFL teams to meet the 85-percent vaccination requirement threshold, the teams that take the longest to get there, or do not get there at all, will have a harder time navigating the virus into the season. Teams like the Browns are Super Bowl contenders and would not want an avoidable technicality to derail their campaign.
With the vaccine readily available to any adult American who wants to receive one, it has to be frustrating for teams who cannot honestly approach the 85-percent COVID-19 vaccination threshold. In time, we will have a case study on the success of teams across all North American sports who did and did not surpass this critical vaccination threshold. For now, it remains an issue.
The Browns are fortunate this potential minor outbreak happened in late May and not December.