For the second consecutive day, the Cleveland Browns have shut down their practice facility to conduct contact tracing after two more players tested positive for COVID-19.
Tight end Harrison Bryant and linebacker Malcolm Smith were the two players who tested positive, a league source told ESPN. Bryant had been placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list Tuesday after being identified as a high-risk close contact to another individual who had tested positive outside the building, and Smith and starting cornerback Denzel Ward were added to the list Thursday.
The Browns kept the facility closed Thursday afternoon after contact tracing protocols and did not practice at all Thursday.
They also closed their facility Wednesday after a coach and practice squad player tested positive for the coronavirus, but Cleveland reopened its building in the afternoon and practiced for about an hour.
On Tuesday, the Browns placed Bryant and safeties Karl Joseph and Andrew Sendejo on the reserve/COVID-19 list, then added practice squad center Javon Patterson on Wednesday.
The Browns have been dealing with coronavirus issues since Saturday, when they had to place their top four wide receivers on the reserve/COVID-19 list as high-risk close contacts after they came into contact with another player who had tested positive.
Receivers Jarvis Landry, Rashard Higgins, Donovan Peoples-Jones and KhaDarel Hodge and linebacker Jacob Phillips were activated off the reserve list Thursday.
Cleveland, however, does not expect to get back Ward, Sendejo or starting linebacker B.J. Goodson, who was the first to be put on the reserve/COVID-19 list Saturday, in time for Sunday’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The NFL’s Dr. Allen Sills said Wednesday there was no indication that an outbreak within the Browns organization was underway.
“To date, we don’t see any connection among the recent positive cases with the Browns, so there’s no evidence of transmission within the facility,” Sills said. “But obviously we’re going to continue to work through that and continue to monitor the test results on a day-to-day basis.”
Cleveland can clinch its first playoff berth in 17 seasons with a victory over the Steelers.
