NFL
Washington Football Team covid woes continue
Few teams in the NFL have had to deal with as many covid outbreaks as the Washington Football Team. At the meaty end of the season, can they bounce back?
The theme of the 2021 season in the Beltway is how to fight an NFL season with one arm tied behind your back. No team in the NFL has been hit as hard or as often with the covid protocol stick as Washington. Just as they announce the return of Taylor Heinicke from the list, they are hit with a slew of coaches and assistants who will now miss Sunday’s make-or-break game against the Dallas Cowboys.
Both Heinicke and Kyle Allen were in covid protocols and missed Tuesday’s 27-17 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, that game rescheduled due to a teamwide covid outbreak. Several coaches were not able to participate in that game, including defensive line coach Sam Mills, wide receivers coach Drew Terrell, running backs coach Randy Jordan, defensive backs coach Chris Harris, assistant defensive backs/nickel coach Brent Vieselmeyer, defensive quality control coach Vincent Rivera and defensive coaching intern Christian Garcia.
Now the cuts go even deeper, as Washington announces that several of those are still not cleared for Sunday’s matchup with Dallas. The Cowboys are already through to the playoffs, but Washington is holding on by a very thin thread to their postseason hopes. Every game is now a must-win if they are to have any chance at all of getting a Wild Card spot. They may have never been able to come back from their 6-8 season anyway, but trying to do it when you have half of your staff isolated is perhaps too much to ask of anyone.