Steelers Player Tests Positive for COVID-19

The Pittsburgh Steelers have had a player test positive for COVID-19, the team announced in a statement on Monday afternoon.

The Steelers had one staff member test positive before the team’s game with the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, but contact tracing did not require any players to quarantine or be placed on the COVID-19 list.

“The Steelers were informed this morning that a player has tested positive for COVID-19,” team spokesman Burt Lauten said in a statement. “The player immediately was self-quarantined, and the organization continues to be in the NFL’s intensive protocol. We have been in contact with the NFL and medical advisors to complete the necessary contact tracing. The player will be placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list today.

“The health and safety of our players, coaches and staff members remain our highest priority.”

The Steelers’ tests that were read on Monday would have likely been taken on Sunday, before the team played the Cowboys. PCR tests for COVID-19, which are the most accurate form of rapid testing available, take approximately 24 hours to turn around.

The team had already been in the NFL’s intensive protocol because they had potentially been exposed the previous Sunday, when Baltimore Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey tested positive in a pre-game test that was taken Sunday but read on Monday.

It’s not clear if either the Steelers’ staff case or the player case are related to that potential exposure or to one another.

When the NFL completes its contact tracing, any players that are considered high risk close contacts of the positive player will have to be quarantined from the team for five days and will not be able to practice this week as the team prepares to face the Cincinnati Bengals. The Ravens had six such players that needed quarantined after Humphrey’s positive test.

The Steelers have not had a player on the COVID-19 list since training camp.