Week 15 Reality Checks: Washington vs COVID-19
By Tim Payne
The Washington Football Team was facing a difficult but reasonable challenge leading into the final five weeks of the season with five division games poised to make or break their season. And then COVID struck.
Starting with Montez Sweat last Thursday, a continuous stream of players have tested positive, with a total of 23 members of the team added to the list as of Friday morning. Add to that Terry McLaurin and JD McKissic in concussion protocol, and Washington’s chances of maintaining their grasp on a playoff spot have dwindled considerably.
There’s no predicting what happens this week. With slightly loosened protocols, it’s possible many of the players currently on the COVID list could end up being eligible to play on Sunday.
Could be good news for Washington in new NFL Covid protocols: asymptomatic vaccinated players that test positive can come back possibly with just one negative test. Maybe that helps for this weekend, as most of Washington’s 21 players on Covid list are vaccinated and asymptomatic
— JP Finlay (@JPFinlayNBCS) December 16, 2021
It’s also possible, and eminently more likely, that the Washington Football Team fields something akin to a 3rd preseason game roster in their most important game of the season on Sunday with a quarterback with less than two games of experience under center.
Washington’s currently available roster probably doesn’t compare favorably with the No. 1 team in college football, let alone their dramatically healthier division rival from the City of Brotherly Love, where they throw batteries to prove their affection for opposing teams.
But, by all appearances, the game will be played at 1 p.m. EST on Sunday, and by 4:30, either Washington or Philly will have the inside track on the seventh seed in the NFC playoffs.
So, let’s jump into a special COVID edition of Washington Football Team Reality Checks: