No Patriots Added To Reserve/COVID-19 List On Wednesday
FOXBORO (CBS) -- We all know that things can change pretty quickly, but the Patriots are trending in the right direction in regards to COVID-19.
New England got two players off the Reserve/COVID-19 list on Wednesday in running back Rhamondre Stevenson and linebacker Harvey Langey. The team also did not add any new players to the list.
Six Patriots players remain on the Reserve/COVID-19 list ahead of New England's Week 17 game against the Jaguars: Matthew Judon, Ja'Whaun Bentley, Brian Hoyer, Josh Uche, Brandon King and Deatrich Wise. There's a chance they could all be cleared to play on Sunday, with the NFL changing its guidelines and trimming the isolation period from 10 days to five.
Patriots players spoke of the extra caution that they are taking to make sure they're available for the team at the most important time of the year.
"It just goes back to controlling what you can control," said rookie quarterback Mac Jones. "Try to follow all the rules, and some of it is out of your control, but try to keep distance and listen to the medical people on our team that have been telling us what to do to make sure we are safe."
"Just protect yourself and put the team first. Don't do anything that will hurt the team or hurt yourself," said cornerback J.C. Jackson. "Watch who you're around and wear a mask. It's coming around and it's crazy. We're seeing a lot of guys missing games because of COVID; here we're trying to put ourselves in the best position so it won't happen. It's the end of the season and we need everyone."
"Players are aware of how contagious it is," added linebacker Dont'a Hightower. "We know what we have in front of us. We hope everybody does the right thing."
With backup quarterback Brian Hoyer landing on the list Tuesday, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick asked if they were keeping quarterbacks in separate rooms as an added precaution. He seemed to take a bit of offense to that notion.
"We've tried to take the highest precaution we can with everybody, not singling out anyone and saying the other players don't matter, because that is not the case," said Belichick. "We take our highest precaution with all of our players, particularly the ones who are not vaccinated."
The Jaguars added three more players to the list on Wednesday, bringing the team's total up to 25.
Tune in to Sunday's Patriots-Jaguars game on WBZ-TV — the flagship station of the New England Patriots. Pregame coverage begins at 11:30am with Patriots GameDay, kickoff is set for 1pm, and after the game stick around for full reaction and analysis on Patriots 5th Quarter!
