The Steelers placed offensive tackle Zach Banner and linebackers Devin Bush and Marcus Allen on the Reserve/COVID-19 List Wednesday in what they hope will be a minor flare up of the virus heading into their game Sunday against the Chiefs.
The NFL, like the nation, has seen a spike in COVID-19 cases due to the new Omicron variant. In the past week, the number of players league-wide on the Reserve/COVID-19 List spiked to over 200, with every team dealing with at least some cases.
With the Browns, Rams and Washington all dealing with more than 20 cases per team over the weekend, their respective games were moved to Monday and Tuesday nights. It was an extreme case for the NFL, which had previously stated that it was not going to move games this season after doing so in 2020, including twice to the Steelers.
NFLPA President J.C. Tretter, the Browns starting center, said Wednesday that initially, the league wanted to cancel the Week 15 games in which teams were dealing with COVID-19 issues.
The Raiders, Seahawks and Eagles -- who played those COVID-affected teams -- all wanted the games to be played as scheduled. The Browns lost to the Raiders, while the Rams and Eagles both won.
“I was fighting for the same things for the Raiders players I was for the Browns players: to make sure everybody gets paid,” Tretter told reporters in Cleveland. “I don’t think people realize how close those games were to being canceled.”
Players are not paid for games that are not played.
With the additions of Bush, Banner and Allen to the COVID-19 List, the Steelers now have four players on their active roster -- nose tackle Montravious Adams went on the list last week -- on their roster who are dealing with a positive test. Practice squad offensive lineman Malcom Pridgeon also is on the list.
The Chiefs are dealing with a much bigger outbreak. They placed 10 players on the Reserve/COVID-19 List Monday and Tuesday, including star tight end Travis Kelce and wide receiver Tyreek Hill. They also had four other players on the list last week who missed Kansas City's win last Thursday against the Chargers. The Chiefs had no new positive tests Wednesday.
The Steelers have had issues earlier this season. Ben Roethlisberger missed the team's 16-16 tie against the Lions, while All-Pro safety Minkah Fitzpatrick was out the following week in a loss to the Chargers.
The Steelers also had games against the Titans and Ravens moved or delayed last season because of COVID.
The Steelers remain hopeful the NFL doesn't do the same with this week's game against the Chiefs, but also know the league is going to do what it's going to do without their input.
As of this time, the game remains in its Sunday, 4:25 p.m. time slot. League spokesman Brian McCarthy said there have been no discussions at this point about moving the game.
"Obviously we don't know what's going to happen. Maybe they'll just make it a doubleheader on Monday. We'll see," Roethlisberger said Wednesday. "You don't worry about it because it's out of our control. We don't worry about things we can't control."
The NFL eased its testing rules this week after last week's outbreaks, taking away mandatory testing for all vaccinated players. Now, vaccinated players are tested randomly, while non-vaccinated players still must submit to daily testing. But all players are still required to self-report any COVID-like symptoms they are having.
The league also eased the requirements for vaccinated players to return to play. But the issue isn't going away.
"I've been extremely pleased with our attitude and our approach in terms of dealing with COVID," Mike Tomlin said Tuesday. "Our agenda is to make it a winning edge for us. We need to deal with it relatively well, meaning we need to deal with it better than others, and I like the mindset and the actions of our group in that regard."
With both Bush and Allen going on the COVID-19 List, the Steelers could be short inside linebackers for the game against the Chiefs. Bush has started 13 of the team's 14 games this season, while Allen has been the team's dime linebacker the past two games.
The Steelers still have Joe Schobert, Robert Spillane, rookie Buddy Johnson and Ulysees Gilbert on their roster at the position.
