Vikings plan to return to TCO Performance Center Thursday
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - DECEMBER 23: Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins (8) throws a pass against the Green Bay Packers in the first quarter of the game on December 23, 2019 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by David Berding/Ic ((Photo by David Berding/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) / Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS - The Minnesota Vikings plan to reopen TCO Performance Center on Thursday and their Week 4 game at the Houston Texans is still on for Sunday, General Manager Rick Spielman said Wednesday morning.
Texans' coach Bill O'Brien told Minnesota reporters the same Wednesday, that the NFL wants them to move forward as if they're playing Sunday.
That comes after the Tennessee Titans, who beat the Vikings 31-30 last Sunday, had three players and five team staff test positive for COVID-19 earlier this week. The Titans were scheduled to face the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday, but that game has been postponed and the Titans’ practice facility is closed until further notice.
Spielman said he got a call from the NFL at 9 a.m. Tuesday, with Head Trainer and Infection Control Officer Eric Sugarman in his office, and they were informed about the Titans’ situation. All Vikings players and staff had to clear TCO Performance Center immediately.
“We were able to get everybody out of the building within an hour,” Spielman said.
He added that while the No. 1 priority is the health and safety of the team, the plan remains to be ready to play the Texans on Sunday. Both teams are off to an 0-3 start.
“There’s no excuses and I know with coach Zimmer’s leadership, this entire coaching staff and type of guys that we have in that locker room, we will be prepared and ready to go Sunday down in Houston,” Spielman said.
The team will hold all meetings Wednesday virtually.
Sugarman, who himself tested positive for COVID-19 back in training camp, said there will be enhanced COVID-19 protocols when the team returns to TCO Performance Center on Thursday. He also said learning of the Titans’ positive tests was not a surprise, even though they’re the first team to have an outbreak since the start of the regular season.
“We expected this. When I say we, the National Football League expected this to happen. We’re not going to make it through the whole season and not have some outbreaks. This isn’t going to be the last time it happens,” Sugarman said.
Any player or team official entering TCO Performance Center on Thursday will have to have two negative tests before they enter the building. They then immediately get a contact tracer, which they wear the entire day until they leave the facility. The same goes for road trips. They were them on the bus, on planes and at practice and games, only taking it off to go to bed.
Sugarman said the Vikings/Titans game is now considered a case study for the NFL. It’s the first time there have been positive COVID-19 cases after a game, and where a player might have been positive without knowing it and played.
“This is the invisible virus. You don’t know you have it, typically, when you’re contagious because it takes several days for the virus, if you’re going to get symptoms, to No. 1 display the symptoms and No. 2 to test positive,” Sugarman said.
Sugarman has access to every player’s contact tracing data, and knows the night before if a player tests positive. Anyone who does test positive has to isolate and is given a kit with resources to track their status. They’re not cleared to return until they have two negative tests.
He said the Vikings are not out of the woods in terms of the team avoiding positive tests ahead of the Texans’ game. The Vikings had players in the “moderate risk” category, with contact of a carrier for up to 10 minutes.
“The CDC will tell you that symptoms will appear anywhere from Day 2 to Day 14, as well as a positive test. It seems like the sweet spot for a positive test is between Days 3 and 5, so Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday are critical days for us,” Sugarman said.
They’re fully prepared for any health obstacle, but it’s another hurdle for the organization to clear after an 0-3 start.
Minnesota wasn’t competitive in either of its first two games. The Vikings had the ball last Sunday with a chance to win the game, and went nowhere offensively.
Spielman reiterated there are no excuses, and Zimmer said as much in a virtual team meeting on Wednesday.
“Coach Zim and the players have a very strong belief that we’re going to get this turned around,” Spielman said.