NFL COVID-19 tracker: Updated team-by-team list of players in protocol for Week 15 – Sporting News

As the league's COVID-19 outbreak worsens, the NFL finally softened on one of its firm lines in the sand and postponed three games slated to be played this week.

Cleveland's matchup against Las Vegas, Seattle's matchup against the Rams and Washington's matchup against Philadelphia have all been postponed due to massive coronavirus outbreaks on some of those teams.

MORE: NFL Week 15 postponements

This comes a day after the league announced new COVID protocols, which not everybody took kindly to and in the same week that the league experienced one of the most exponential rises in cases.

For those doing the math at home, that's roughly 30 players a day over the last five days entering protocols and testing positive. With the season winding down but cases of the Omicron variant seemingly on the rise, it remains to be seen how the rest of the season will take shape and what effect, if any, the protocols will have on mitigating the number of players on the COVID reserve list.

Sporting News has the list of all the players who've entered protocols since the beginning of the week:

Listed players reflect only official team rosters as of 5:30 p.m. ET on Dec. 17.

MORE: NFL power rankings: 49ers, Chiefs, Cowboys climb; Bills, Ravens, Steelers slide for Week 15

Here is the COVID protocol for vaccinated players, according to the NFL :

The main difference between vaccinated and unvaccinated players is that vaccinated players don't have to worry about being a "high-risk" close contact at any point. They also have more freedom to participate in activities than their unvaccinated counterparts. Vaccinated players can go out on the road and more easily spend time with teammates outside the facility, among other perks.

The NFL's COVID protocols are stricter than those for vaccinated players. They are as follows, per the NFL :

Unvaccinated players also have more procedures they must follow to avoid falling into COVID protocol. They include the following:

The NFL considers a player fully vaccinated if they fall into one of the two following categories. They either are 14 days removed from their final dose of Pfizer, Moderna or the Johnson & Johnson vaccine or they previously contracted COVID and are 14 days removed from a single dose of any vaccine.

The NFL has left the door open for potential postponements. That said, the league has said that "postponements will only occur if required by government authorities, medical experts, or at the Commissioners discretion."

Of course, the NFL has also said that it's hoping to play its full, 272-game schedule "in a safe and responsible way," so it seems likely that the league will consider postponements where appropriate.

However, the NFL has noted that the burden of postponements or cancellations will fall upon teams featuring COVID spikes among unvaccinated players. If outbreaks occur among vaccinated players, the league will seek to "minimize the burden" of that club.

If a game is canceled/postponed because a club cannot play due to a Covid spike among or resulting from its non-vaccinated players/staff, then the burden of the cancellation or delay will fall on the club experiencing the Covid infection. We will seek to minimize the burden on the opposing club or clubs. If a club cannot play due to a Covid spike in vaccinated individuals, we will attempt to minimize the competitive and economic burden on both participating teams.

What does that mean? If a team has an outbreak that impacts unvaccinated players, they're less likely to get a favorable ruling from the NFL. So, they may be forced to play significantly shorthanded or at a less convenient time.

The NFL also has stated that if a game cannot be rescheduled within its 18-week season due to a COVID outbreak amid non-vaccinated players, the team with the outbreak will be forced to forfeit.

Additionally, the league said that "games will not be postponed or rescheduled simply to avoid roster issues caused by injury or illness affecting multiple players, even within a position group." That principle was in action last year, and the Broncos were the best example of it in action. They had to play with practice squad receiver Kendall Hinton as their quarterback after their quarterback room was exposed to the virus.

No, it's not planning to. The NFL confirmed that they are hoping not to extend the regular season past 18 weeks (17 games and one bye).

:We do not anticipate adding a 19th week to accommodate games that cannot be rescheduled within the current 18 weeks of the regular season."

Perhaps the NFL will change its tune if COVID becomes a bigger issue than the league anticipates, but for now, don't expect the league to add another week to the season.

Link:

NFL COVID-19 tracker: Updated team-by-team list of players in protocol for Week 15 - Sporting News