By Alex Barth, 985TheSportsHub.com
According to Saturday’s NFL transaction wire, the Patriots have officially placed Cam Newton on the COVID-19 reserve list.
What does this mean? First, it rules out Newton’s test result being a ‘false positive.’ The Patriots wouldn’t place a player on the COVID reserve list without being sure the diagnosis is accurate.
It also means it could be a few weeks until we see Newton again. The rules for the COVID reserve list lay out two paths for players to return – one for those demonstrating symptoms, and one for those who are asymptomatic.
If a player is showing symptoms of COVID-19, he is not eligible to return until 10 days after the symptoms first appeared, and it’s been at least three days since he experienced any kind of symptoms at all.
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If a player tests positive but does not show any symptoms, he can return 10 days after the initial positive test, or five days after that as long as he tests negative twice, and more than 24 hours apart.
It’s not yet known if Newton is showing symptoms. If he is, he would miss the game against the Chiefs (tentatively scheduled for Tuesday), as well as next week’s game against Denver. If he is asymptomatic, there is still a chance he could play against the Broncos.
Newton’s positive test was made public Saturday morning. This led to the postponement of Sunday’s scheduled Patriots-Chiefs matchup.