Report: All Browns Players, Staff Test Negative after Odell Beckham Jr. Illness Scare
All Cleveland Browns players and staff members have tested negative for COVID-19 after star wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. was sent home from practice with an illness Thursday, according to a report by NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.
All #Browns players and staff — including Odell Beckham Jr. — tested negative for COVID-19 from Thursday's round of testing, per source.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) October 16, 2020
Beckham did not test positive for the virus on Thursday, but Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski decided to keep him at home and off the practice field out of “an abundance of caution,” adding that he was “just feeling under the weather.”
While Beckham’s ailment likely caused some alarm in Cleveland on Thursday, the news of negative tests across the club should remove any doubt regarding Sunday’s matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field being played as scheduled.
The Steelers have already had to deal with the positive tests of opponents altering their season, as their game against the Tennessee Titans had to be rescheduled from Week Four to Seven.
Pittsburgh themselves have not had any virus-related issues since they removed running back Jaylen Samuels from the Reserve list back in mid-August.
Cleveland’s successful battery of tests Thursday also comes after an increasing number of teams have had to temporarily shut down their facilities due to COVID-19 concerns, including the Atlanta Falcons and Indianapolis Colts just this week.
Atlanta has reportedly been cleared to reopen their practice facility after no new positive tests from Thursday, while the Colts are working remotely as the work to confirm testing results.
The #Falcons had no new positive tests from Thursday’s round of COVID-19 testing. https://t.co/nIVtVj6Tie
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) October 16, 2020
Meanwhile, the #Colts are holding all virtual meetings today as they continue to go through the confirmation process for several initial positive COVID-19 tests.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) October 16, 2020
For now, all games — including Colts-Bengals and Falcons-Vikings — remain on as scheduled.
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