Coronavirus: Giants have positive test, most of offensive line quarantined ahead of Monday's game vs. Bucs

A terrible season for the New York Giants could be about to get worse as the team announced that a player tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday night and was told not to come to the team facility Thursday. That player has been revealed to be starting left guard Will Hernandez, who will land on the reserve/COVID-19 list. In an abundance of caution and for contact tracing purposes, the Giants then told all but four of the team's offensive linemen to work remotely Thursday.  It is the first positive result for Big Blue since testing began.

The one-win Giants host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday and there's no reason as of now to think that game could be postponed, but it's obviously a possibility. The Bucs are currently 12-point favorites on the William Hill NFL odds, but books have tended to take lines down when there's a COVID-19 concern. Teams must have eight offensive linemen available for games to move forward.

According to a tweet from the NFL Network's Tom Pelissero: "The timing of close contact for the others, and whether they are considered high-risk exposures, will determine whether they can be cleared in time to play." In addition, outside linebackers coach Bret Bielema and defensive backs coach Jerome Henderson were sent home as they were considered close COVID-19 contacts (yet not offensive line coach Hal Hunter).

Last Friday, a group of Giants players gathered for dinner – including QB Daniel Jones -- and were caught on video without masks. New York coach Joe Judge addressed it on Tuesday, telling reporters any discipline will be kept in house. Hernandez apparently was not at that dinner (see above tweet).

It's somewhat ironic this is happening to a Bucs opponent for a primetime game as last week the Raiders had their entire starting offensive line quarantined nearly all week because of a positive COVID-19 test by Trent Brown -- the game was taken off Sunday night and shifted to the afternoon. Brown didn't play vs. Tampa, while the four other starters weren't allowed to return until Sunday morning but did play without any live preparation. Perhaps not coincidentally, the Raiders tied a season high by allowing three sacks of Derek Carr and couldn't run the ball at all in a 45-20 loss. 

In theory, Monday's game could be somewhat easily rescheduled if need be as neither New York nor Tampa Bay has had its bye week yet. The Giants are scheduled for theirs in Week 11 and the Bucs in Week 13.

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