NFL, NFLPA agree to extend daily COVID-19 testing

The NFL and the NFL Players Association reached agreement on Wednesday to continue daily COVID-19 testing through Sept. If the positivity rate didn't exceed 5 percent, testing was to be done every other day. According to a Wednesday memo from the NFL management council to teams, the positivity rate across the league is below 1 percent, and no single team has a positivity rate above 2 percent, but the sides agreed to continue daily testing anyway.

The NFL and the NFL Players Association reached agreement on Wednesday to continue daily COVID-19 testing through Sept. 5. The initial pact between the two sides, announced on July 20, mandated daily testing for the first two weeks of training camp. If the positivity rate didn't exceed 5 percent, testing was to be done every other day.

According to a Wednesday memo from the NFL management council to teams, the positivity rate across the league is below 1 percent, and no single team has a positivity rate above 2 percent, but the sides agreed to continue daily testing anyway. The league memo did not reference a date for daily testing to end, saying only "until further notice." The league previously adjusted testing protocols after Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford was placed on the COVID-19 reserve list on Aug. 1. His test turned out to be a false positive.

"We will continue to monitor positivity rates within each club and relevant information from each team community to inform our assessment of testing frequency ahead of the regular season," the NFLPA said in a statement released Wednesday. The regular season is scheduled to start Sept. 10 with the Houston Texans playing the Super Bowl champion Chiefs in Kansas City.

--Field Level Media