NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — On Tuesday morning, prominent NFL insiders took to social media to report that some unidentified New Orleans Saints coaches may questionable for Week 2.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweeted: “Saints have had a ‘handful of offensive coaches’ test positive for COVID, calling into question their status for Sunday’s game vs. Carolina, per source.”
Schefter continued by stating: “But as one Saints’ source said, ‘We’ll be just fine.'”
NFL Network reporter Tom Pelissero equated the “handful” of coaches to “five” assistant coaches and claimed that all of them had previously received the COVID-19 vaccination.
Pelissero tweeted: “All five #Saints assistant coaches who tested positive for COVID-19 are vaccinated, per source. The team is in enhanced mitigation protocols, which means daily testing, mandatory masks, etc., for all players and staff, regardless of vaccination status.”
In March, Pelissero’s NFL Network colleague Ian Rapoport stated “the Saints will forfeit their sixth-round selection in the 2022 NFL Draft and will be fined $700,000 for violations of the NFL-NFLPA COVID protocols during the 2020 season.”
The incident involving Kamara marked the team’s third offense during the COVID-affected season following violations in Week 2 and Week 9.
Since the publication of this article, the team has moved injured All Pro wide receiver Michael Thomas to the COVID list and the Associated Press has reported six unidentified members of the New Orleans Saints coaching staff, a player and a nutritionist have tested positive for COVID-19.
WGNO reached out to the Saints on Tuesday afternoon to confirm the positive COVID-19 test results among the coaching staff. However, at this time team officials have yet to provide an official statement.