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The NFL announced on Wednesday that it would adjust its Thanksgiving triple header to a double header due to a COVID-19 outbreak. In a statement, the NFL said the Baltimore Ravens’ game with the Pittsburgh Steelers scheduled for Thursday night would be moved to Sunday afternoon. This decision was taken with great caution to ensure the health and safety of players, coaches and staff on match day and in consultation with medical experts. Game time and broadcast network will be announced later today.
The Ravens face at least 10 positive COVID-19 tests between players and staff, and it was already known that they would be without their top two running backs, Mark Ingram and JK Dobbins. According to Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network, the Ravens would also have been severely limited on the offensive line had they actually played Thursday. Dan Graziano from ESPN reports that seven players have tested positive in the past three days, most recently including Pernell McPhee, Trace McSorley, Matt Skura, Patrick Mekari and Calais Campbell. Naturally, those seven players wouldn’t be available to play on Thursday, but as Graziano notes, the league is working on identifying and evaluating the close contacts of these infected players, and it is possible that some of those close contacts have also been excluded. The NFL wanted to play the game as planned, but had to make the switch with health and safety in mind.
Several Steelers players took to Twitter to express their displeasure with the league’s decision, but commissioner Roger Goodell didn’t have much choice. Now the only two games that will be played on Thanksgiving will be the Houston Texans at the Detroit Lions, which is scheduled to kick off on CBS at 12:30 p.m. ET, and the Washington football team at the Dallas Cowboys, which is scheduled to start off at 4:30 p.m. on Fox.
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