- The
NFL announced the postponement of three games due to the league's latestCOVID-19 outbreak. - Raiders linebacker K.J. Wright was openly outraged with the decision.
The NFL's recent uptick in positive COVID-19 cases reached a breaking point on Friday, with the league announcing that three games — Raiders vs. Browns, Eagles vs. Washington, and Rams vs. Seahawks — would all be postponed two days as teams dealt with outbreaks within their respective locker rooms.
For the Browns, Rams, and Washington Football Team, the postponements came as great
But for their opponents, the games getting pushed back were an understandable source of frustration.
Raiders linebacker K.J. Wright did not hold back, writing on Twitter, "I pay my player dues just to get lied to and the rules bent! @NFL @NFLPA. If it was the other way around I swear we would be playing tomorrow."
—KJ (@KJ_WRIGHT34) December 17, 2021
It's not hard to see why Wright is angry with the result.
At the start of the season, the NFL was pretty clear that it did not plan on pushing games around the schedule, going as far as to threaten potential forfeiture if teams were unable to field a satisfactory roster due to an outbreak amongst unvaccinated players.
The Raiders are currently 6-7 and were set to take on a Cleveland Browns team on Saturday that would have been down to their third-string quarterback.
Las Vegas is currently sitting in 12th place in the AFC playoff picture but only one win behind the teams now holding the sixth and seventh spots in the postseason. Playing a Saturday game against a depleted Browns team, earning a win, and holding an extra day of rest in their pocket heading into Week 16 could have been a huge boon to the Raiders' chances to make the playoffs.
Instead, the Raiders will now play a Browns team that will likely get some of their starters back from the reserve/COVID-19 list in time to play on Monday night and be heading into Week 16 short on rest.
Additionally, the extra days could result in some players on the Raiders testing positive for COVID-19, leaving them unable to play in a game on Monday that they could have played in had kickoff remained on Saturday.
After the league's big talk of forcing teams to forfeit if they weren't ready for kickoff, Wright understandably wondered what changed.
Wright got support from team owner Mark Davis, who agreed that the postponement resulted in a "competitive disadvantage to the Raiders," per ESPN's Adam Schefter.
The Raiders weren't alone in their frustration.
Eagles cornerback Darius Slay also expressed some bewilderment at the NFL's decision to postpone their game against Washington.
—Darius Slay (@bigplay24slay) December 17, 2021
His teammate Lane Johnson posted the eyebrow-raised, thinking emoji.
—Lane Johnson (@LaneJohnson65) December 17, 2021
In a memo sent to teams in the wake of the postponements, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell explained the decision, arguing, "The emergence of the Omicron variant is precisely the kind of change that warrants a flexible response," from the league.
—Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 17, 2021
After allowing three games to get pushed back due to outbreaks, teams that face a similar outbreak later in the season will have a strong argument for similar mercy.
The three postponements are the first big moves from the NFL this season in response to COVID-19, but there's a good chance they won't be the last.