The most important results of the week for the Pittsburgh Steelers might not come on the practice field but rather the medical testing lab.

The Steelers are hoping to avoid the outbreak of positive coronavirus tests that has taken place on the Kansas City Chiefs, their opponent Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium.

The Chiefs added seven players to the reserve/covid list Tuesday, including wide receiver Tyreek Hill. They join three others who were added Monday, a group that included tight end Travis Kelce and kicker Harrison Butker.

The Steelers haven’t reported any positive tests this week and have just one player, nose tackle Montravius Adams, on the reserve/covid list.

“I’ve been extremely pleased with the attitude and approach in dealing with covid,” coach Mike Tomlin said Tuesday at his weekly press conference. “Our agenda is to make it a winning edge for us. We need to deal with it relatively well, meaning we need to deal with it better than others. I like our mindset and the actions of our group in that regards.”

Vaccinated players were tested on a weekly basis for the first 14 weeks of the season. After more than 200 players tested positive since the start of Week 15, the NFL changed its protocol for vaccinated players, halting weekly testing in favor of random.

“Such testing will include, without limitation, sample selection based on position group and staff cohorts,” the NFL said in a memo sent to all 32 teams.

The league also is asking players to self-report if they are experiencing symptoms, which will require immediate testing. The change was done to allow asymptomatic players a quicker chance at returning.

Unvaccinated players remain subject to daily testing.

The Steelers entered the season having one of the highest vaccination rates of all NFL teams. But the surge in the omicron variant has impacted teams across the NFL in the past week. Outbreaks in Cleveland, Washington and Los Angeles forced the NFL to postpone three games, and the short-handed Browns dropped a 16-14 decision to the Las Vegas Raiders to fall to 7-7 and into last place in the tightly packed AFC North.

Eleven teams have at least nine players on the reserve/covid list, with a handful of others listing seven.

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)