Steelers deal again with coronavirus issues outside their locker room

The Pittsburgh Steelers showed earlier this season they could navigate around the distractions caused by a covid-19 outbreak in an upcoming opponent’s locker room.

Now, they will see how they respond to an outbreak involving a team they just played.

With Baltimore Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey testing positive for coronavirus and seven teammates being placed on the reserve/covid-19 list, the Steelers’ routine has been altered this week as they prepare to play the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.

The Steelers didn’t let their rescheduled game against the Tennessee Titans impact their preparation, as evidenced by a 27-24 victory, and coach Mike Tomlin vowed not to let what transpired with the Ravens muddle their trip to Dallas.

“It won’t be an excuse in any way, I’ll say that,” Tomlin said. “We’ve acknowledged from the very onset of this thing that we have to have a hardcore plan, but we have to be light on our feet. We have to work at learning and learning to prepare in different ways.

“This goes back to the virtual offseason. We won’t be doing a whole bunch of talking about the labor pains associated with this journey this week. We will be concerned about the performance that’s on the other end of it.”

Humphrey announced he tested positive Monday, a day after the Steelers increased their record to 7-0 with a 28-24 victory against the Ravens. A day later, the results of contact tracing landed seven more Ravens players on the reserve list, although that doesn’t mean they tested positive like Humphrey.

The NFL immediately put the Ravens and Steelers into the league’s “Intensive Protocol” program that is required when positive tests arise. Under these guidelines, meetings must be held virtually unless they are held outdoors or in a “bubble” with masks being worn at all times.

Players also must wear masks during practice, and limits are placed on the amount of players allowed into the weight room or the time they are permitted in the locker room.

“You try to control what you can control,” defensive captain Cameron Heyward said Wednesday. “At the end of the day, the virus doesn’t bend to our liking. We don’t know what was going on over there. I don’t think there was any ill will or them being negligent. Things happen. It’s up to us to continue to do our jobs and be ready.”

The Steelers had to adjust their schedule slightly Wednesday, with practice being pushed back an hour. As long as all Steelers players continue to test negative — the team hasn’t gotten a positive test since early in training camp — they could have minimal interruptions the rest of the week.

“My college coach used to say, ‘Have a plan, work the plan and plan for the unexpected,’ ” quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said. “That’s kind of what we’ve been doing. We’ve been taking whatever has been thrown at us like today with everything being pushed back. We can’t say woe is us. People in real life are dealing with changing things, too. We have to keep rolling through it.”

Wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster was locked into coverage with Humphrey for much of the game against the Ravens. He has no concern about being in such close proximity with a player who tested positive just hours after the game concluded.

“Nope,” he said Wednesday. “I’ve tested negative. I don’t have a problem or an issue with myself or health.”

The NFL implemented daily testing throughout training camp. Early in the season, players were tested every day except for the day of a game. That changed in Week 6 when testing seven days a week was reinstituted.

Players tested on gamedays, however, often don’t learn their results until hours later or even the next day, as was the case with Humphrey.

In the data released by the NFL on Wednesday — which doesn’t include Humphrey’s positive results — 16,814 tests were administered to 2,511 players with eight positives reported. Since Aug. 1, the NFL has found 163 positives among more than 550,000 tests.

Tomlin said he is in full support of the league’s testing practices.

“Let me be clear, I am extremely pleased with the efforts of the National Football League in response to the pandemic and the steps that we are taking continually,” he said. “They are continually growing and changing and developing as needed. I have no issues with what we are doing in that area.”