The Miami Dolphins announced Thursday afternoon that 3 players, 2 of which are starters, have been placed on the COVID list. This means they either have the COVID virus or have been in contact with someone who has. They are LB Kyle Van Noy, DT Christian Wilkins, and WR Matt Cole.
With the game being roughly 72 hours away their status (specifically Van Noy and Wilkins) for Sunday’s 4 pm game vs the LA Chargers is now up in the air. If they have COVID, they cannot play. If they have “high risk” contact exposure, they cannot play and have to do a mandatory five-day quarantine. But, the five-day clock starts from the day the player had the close contact, NOT the day they were put on the COVID list. No word at this time which category Van Noy and Wilkins fall into as the team isn’t permitted to release that information.
If Van Noy and Wilkins had close contact on Monday and do not have the virus there is a chance they could play Sunday. If the close contact came on Tuesday or Wednesday, they would be unable to play vs the Chargers.
If Van Noy and Wilkins had high-risk contact exposure, they cannot play Sunday against the Chargers https://t.co/h9xhBSt6xY https://t.co/ovqwlNLcyh
— Adam Beasley (@AdamHBeasley) November 12, 2020
This news may explain why the Dolphins signed linebacker Donald Payne to their practice squad earlier in the week as they may need depth at linebacker moving forward. The Dolphins go into this week’s game already down Preston Williams and Myles Gaskin, they may be without Durham Smythe, Matt Breida, and Jamal Perry as well.
More on this story as it develops.
