With COVID-19 hitting some NFL teams hard, Saturday’s scheduled game between the Las Vegas Raiders and Cleveland Browns has been moved to Monday.
The game will be played at 5 p.m. ET, with the regularly scheduled Monday Night Football game between the Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears to be played at its usual time of 8:20 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Two games scheduled for Sunday — Washington at Philadelphia Eagles and Seattle Seahawks at Los Angeles Rams — have both been moved to Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET.
As of Friday, the Browns have had a total of 24 players — 12 starters, including the punter — who either tested positive for COVID-19 this week or were still on the reserve/COVID-19 list from last week. The Rams have 29 players on the reserve/COVID-19 list, including receiver Odell Beckham Jr., cornerback Jalen Ramsey, outside linebacker Von Miller and four other starters. Los Angeles’ list includes tight end Tyler Higbee, who missed Monday night’s game against Arizona with what was deemed a false positive but was added again Friday. The Seahawks placed leading receiver Tyler Lockett and running back Alex Collins on the reserve/COVID-19 list Thursday. Washington has 23 players on the reserve/COVID-19 list, including quarterback Taylor Heinicke and backup Kyle Allen.
The Raiders fought their scheduling change, believing the protocols over the summer were clear that outbreaks would result in forfeiture, a source told ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler on Friday.
However, NFL policy agreed to in July states that a forfeiture would happen only if all the following instances occur: (1) a game is postponed by requirement of government authorities or at the discretion of the commissioner; (2) the league can’t find a suitable makeup date within the framework of the season; and (3) the original postponement was caused by an outbreak among unvaccinated players of one team.
Raiders owner Mark Davis told ESPN’s Paul Gutierrez that moving the team’s game against the Browns to Monday put Las…
Source : espn
