Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday.- Six of McCarthy's assistant coaches and one player tested positive as well.
COVID-19 just made things harder for the collapsing Dallas Cowboys.
Head coach Mike McCarthy, three offensive coaches, three strength coaches, and offensive tackle Terrance Steele all tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday. They will all miss the team's next game against the New Orleans Saints on Thursday night, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.
McCarthy became just the second coach in the NFL this year to test positive and be forced to miss games, after Kliff Kingsberry of the Arizona Cardinals on October 15. McCarthy got vaccinated in July after some controversy over his comments that he initially "wasn't 100% on board with the vaccine," according to CBS Sports.
The outbreak comes on the heels of a dramatic 36-33 overtime loss to the Las Vegas Raiders on Thanksgiving. Dallas committed a franchise record 14 penalties for 166 yards. It was the team's third loss in a four-game span.
Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott — who tested positive for COVID-19 in June 2020, and had the worst statistical season of his career that year — may also be out this week to rest a knee injury, according to Sports Illustrated.
Cowboys wide receiver Amari Cooper, who is not vaccinated according to the Cowboys, has been on the team's COVID-19 list since November 19, and is cleared to return on Monday, but he'll be returning to a depleted team.
The Cowboys released a statement on Monday saying that McCarthy "will continue to direct, and be in involved in, all meetings and game preparations on a virtual basis for the remainder of the week, including Thursday's meetings in New Orleans."
The NFL brought in tighter COVID-19 rules this season
This year, the NFL is levying harsher penalties on teams with COVID-19 outbreaks than in 2020.
If a team suffers an outbreak and doesn't have the minimum 54 players to compete in a game, that team could forfeit the game, whereas last year the game would be rescheduled. (No team has yet had to forfeit due to an outbreak.)
Vaccinated players and coaches who test positive for COVID-19 have to test themselves out of self-isolation. Unvaccinated teammembers are sidelined for a mandatory 10 days, and must stay away for at least 72 hours after they stop feeling symptoms.
As Insider's Hilary Brueck reported last week, the NFL's top physician, Dr. Allen Sills, is urging everyone in the league to get vaccinated to keep the game going. Sills said he has seen first-hand that vaccinated players who get breakthrough cases of COVID-19 bounce back from illness much faster than unvaccinated players.