Another week, another Patriots game postponement due to the coronavirus pandemic.
On Thursday, the NFL announced that the Patriots will play the Denver Broncos on Monday at 5pm EST at Gillette Stadium on ESPN as part of a doubleheader.
The change marks the first time in franchise history the Patriots will play on a Monday for consecutive weeks.
ESPN will have Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit with reporter Laura Rutledge for the Patriots-Broncos game at 5 p.m. Monday, according to sources.
— Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) October 9, 2020
NFL PR director Brian McCarthy shared the following statement over Twitter regarding changes to the Week 5 schedule.
Officially official from @nfl345 pic.twitter.com/rvxg1IoB5Z
— Brian McCarthy (@NFLprguy) October 9, 2020
Following Stephon Gilmore’s positive test for the virus on Wednesday, the Patriots have not practiced and are working remotely. Gillette Stadium has been closed since Gilmore’s diagnosis.
As for how the Patriots continue prep for the Broncos, head coach Bill Belichick shared some insight during his Thursday press conference.
“We continued our preparation for Denver with virtual calls, and we’ll just kind of take the situation day by day,” Belichick said. “When we feel that it’s safe for everyone to come back, we’ll do that. We all have questions, and this is really more of a medical situation than a football situation. We’ll work through the decisions and input from the people in the medical field — combination of Patriots and league.”
According to a report by ESPN’s Adam Schefter Friday morning, all of the Patriots overnight PCR tests cameback negative, but quarterback Cam Newton’s status for Monday remains unknown. Both Newton and Gilmore are asymptomatic COVID-19 cases.
If either player can test negative twice, 24 hours apart, both could be eligible to return to the Patriots lineup.
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