The NFL is working tirelessly to make sure that outbreaks of COVID-19 within the Tennessee Titans’ and New England Patriots’ organizations don’t derail the 2020 season.
That now includes changing the 2020 NFL schedule on the fly. Three games have been moved even before NFL Week 5’s action got going on Sunday.
NFL schedule: Broncos-Patriots Week 5 game moved to Week 6
The latest round of COVID-19 testing in the NFL on Saturday showed one more positive test within the Patriots’ organization. This means that their game against Denver, originally slated for Sunday before being pushed back to Monday, has been rescheduled for Week 6.
New England originally had a Week 6 bye before taking on the San Francisco 49ers Oct. 25. This comes after stars Cam Newton and Stephon Gilmore were the two best-known players to test positive for the virus.
Related: NFL Week 5 schedule, predictions
NFL schedule: Los Angeles Chargers and Denver Broncos moved to Week 8
This was actually supposed to be Denver’s bye week. Unfortunately, Denver is put in a bad situation in that it now has to take a Week 5 bye. Head coach Vic Fangio said his players will have Sunday, Monday and Tuesday off. That pretty much puts the players behind the proverbial eight-ball.
NFL schedule: Miami Dolphins and Denver Broncos moved to Week 11
Originally slated for Week 6, this game has been pushed to Miami’s original bye week. That’s made possible by the NFL being able to push Denver’s Week 5 game against the Patriots to Week 6.
NFL schedule: Titans-Bills Week 5 game now in question
Another member of the Titans’ organization tested positive for COVID-19 over the weekend. That forced the team to shut down its facility once again. This comes after almost two-dozen members of the organization came down with the virus.
Tennessee’s game against Buffalo, originally scheduled for Sunday before being pushed to Tuesday, is now very much in question. The NFL should have a ruling on that later on Sunday. For now, the game is looking very much iffy.
Remember, the Bills’ originally scheduled “Thursday Night Football” game in Week 6 against the Kansas City Chiefs was rescheduled for Sunday. It remains to be seen what is going to happen on this front. As for the Titans, they have not played since Week 3.
NFL schedule: Possible Week 18?
It’s looking more and more like the NFL is going to have to expand its schedule to include a Week 18. As the league continues to change up its schedule, there’s growing concern over teams being forced into unattainable situations.
The easy fix would be to clear a full weekend of action between Week 17 and the wild card round for games that have been postponed. However, there’s no concrete word on this front from the NFL.