Players on the Tennessee Titans broke protocol by holding workouts after their team facilities were closed due to positive COVID-19 tests, according to reporter Paul Kuharsky.
The team offices were closed on September 29, after the NFL required the team to halt all "in-person meetings, workout or activities at the facility or elsewhere.” Titans players gathered for a workout the very next day at Montgomery Bell Academy in Nashville.
Though the exact players who were present is currently unknown, Kuharsky reports that Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill was present at the workout.
On Wednesday, two additional Titans players tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total to 22 among players and staff.
Titans lineman Rodger Saffold defended the decision to flout league protocols. It's unclear if he was at the practices, but he argued that the players were protecting "their lively hood, (sic) their family, their opportunity."
Under league rules, the Titans facility must remain closed and there's a possibility that their upcoming game against the Buffalo Bills will need to be postponed or cancelled. New rules from the league require a team to forfeit their game, if their negligent handling of coronavirus protocols interrupts the schedule. However, those rules were not passed until after the Titans workout.
According to the New York Times' Judy Battista, sources close to the Titans share that forfeit is not an option currently being considered.
On the other side of Sunday's matchup, Bills QB Josh Allen said he trusts the league to make the correct decisions about whether or not to go forward.
On Thursday, the NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reported that the NFL and the NFLPA are investigating what could be "multiple unauthorized workouts" by the Titans after two more players tested positive.
