Hometown Broadcasting Sports Tuesday 11/3/20
3 November 2020 Sports
The Green Bay Packers conducted virtual meetings Monday following a player testing positive for COVID-19. The team confirmed the positive result Monday morning in a statement. Separately, the team announced RB A.J. Dillion was going on COVID Reserve.
“The Packers were informed today that a player has tested positive for COVID-19. Our organization has entered the NFL’s intensive protocol and the player has self-quarantined. We will continue to work with the league on contact tracing as we follow the guidelines of intensive protocol. All player meeting will be conducted virtually today,” the statement said.
The team added, “Our focus continues to be on the health and safety of our players, staff and community. We will continue to work closely with the NFL and medical professional and follow their guidance.”
The Packers made the announcements separately as they are not allowed to specifically address the medical conditions of players as it pertains to COVID-19. NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reports there is “potential competitive implications” on the upcoming Thursday night’s game against the San Francisco 49ers.
But Packers coach Matt LaFleur seems confident the game will go on as scheduled.
“All indications point towards us playing on Thursday night and I think the league has confidence that we have been handling things the right way in our building and so that’s a credit to the guys in this building as well as the people that set the standard for us,” LaFleur said.
The Packers are entering the NFL’s ‘Intensive Protocol’ which still allows practices and walk throughs, but with the caveat that all players and coaches must wear masks (not gaiters) or Oakley Faceshields.
Meanwhile the Packers did not practice on Monday but will be back on the practice field today in preparation for the 49ers game Thursday Night. San Francisco will be without quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who has a severe high right ankle sprain and tight end George Kittle who is expected to miss eight weeks after suffering a broken foot. Both players left the game in the fourth quarter Sunday in the loss to Seattle.
In Monday Night Football the Tampa Bay Buccaneers held on to win on the road against the New York Giants, 25-23. A game-tying two-point conversion attempt by the Giants failed as the Bucs were able to hold on. There was a flag thrown in the end zone against Tampa Bay cornerback Antoine Winfield Jr. but officials got together and waived it off. The Buccaneers trailed for much of the game but came back to take the lead in the fourth quarter as Tom Brady threw a go-ahead touchdown pass to Mike Evans. The touchdown moved Brady ahead of the Saints Drew Brees for the all-time lead in touchdown passes. On the night Brady was 28 of 40 for 279 yards and two touchdowns, one to Rob Gronkowski and the other to Evans.
New York’s Daniel Jones was inconsistent, even though he did lead the Giants on that final drive that came up just short. On the night, he completed 25 of 41 for 256 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Golden Tate and Dion Lewis had the touchdown catches.
The Patriots improve to 6 -2 in the NFC South and lead the New Orleans Saints (5-2) by a game. The two teams meet a week from Sunday in a division showdown in Tampa Bay. Meanwhile, the Giants fall to 1-7 good for last place in a weak NFC East.
The NFL competition committee expects to present a resolution to owners that includes a 16-team playoff scenario in the event games are lost because of the coronavirus pandemic, league sources told ESPN’s Chris Mortensen. The contingency plan — which could become more likely as bye weeks disappear — would feature eight playoff teams from each conference. The competition committee met via video conference Monday, according to sources.
The contingency, if necessary, would take four division champions and four wild-card teams from both the AFC and NFC. The playoff seeds would be 1 vs. 8, 2 vs. 7, 3 vs. 6 and 4 vs. 5.
NFL team owners already had approved a plan in March to expand the postseason to 14 teams beginning with the 2020 season. That plan increased the number of wild-card teams per conference to three, up from two.
The state volleyball brackets are set for this coming Saturday. Luxemburg-Casco is the top seed and defending D2 state champions. The Spartans will play St. Croix Falls at 1 PM on Saturday at Kaukauna High School. The Spartans have yet to drop a set this year. In boys soccer, the co-op of Roncalli/Two Rivers is the 2 seed in division 2 and will play Medford at 11 AM on Saturday at Marshfield High School. In division 3, St. Lawrence Seminary is the 3 seed and will play University School of Milwaukee at 11 AM at Kewaskum High School.
On a conference call with the league’s general managers on Monday, NBA commissioner Adam Silver told the top team basketball executives that “time is running out” on the possibility of starting the 2020-21 season prior to Christmas Day and potentially salvaging hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue, sources told ESPN.
Discussions with the National Basketball Players Association continued over the weekend and into Monday, but the union’s reluctance to agree to a Dec. 22 start and a reduced 72-game regular season has left the league fearful it has only several days left before opening training camps around Dec. 1 for a pre-Christmas tip is no longer a realistic possibility. Optimism still exists that an agreement can be reached on the pre-Christmas start, but it has been tempered in recent days.
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