Patriots Elevate Dynamic Wide Receiver After Latest COVID-19 Issues

October 18, 2020

The New England Patriots have elevated a dynamic wide receiver after their latest COVID-19 issues. The Patriots have had a very hard couple of weeks. The COVID virus has kind of taken control over their roster and made it difficult to bounce back from. There for a while, it seemed like it was going pretty well.

Bill Belichick talked about this recently.

“Today’s an important day in our preparation for the Broncos,” Belichick said. “We’ve had several days now of virtual meetings between the staff members and from the staff to the players. We’ve been able to cover a lot of things, but we haven’t spent any time together, so today’s our opportunity to do that. We look forward to that. One thing that we’ve learned this year repeatedly has been we have to be ready to adjust and adapt to changes and modifications and the way we do things and, in some cases, decisions that really come down to a very short amount of time that we have to be ready to adjust to.”

“So we’re certainly taking things day by day — probably hour by hour would be more accurate. We’ll just see how we progress and then as we find out more on our end, or if there are other things externally that we can’t control that, then we’ll deal with those as they come. That’s the way it’s been all year. I think our team and our players have done a good job of handling those adjustments, and we’ll continue to do that.”

Patriots Elevate Dynamic Wide Receiver After Latest COVID-19 Issues

But now, the New England Patriots have had to make a few roster changes on Saturday after their latest battle with COVID-19.

After they moved running back Sony Michel (tested positive), guard Shaq Mason (did not test positive), and Derek Rivers (did not test positive) on the COVID-19 reserve list, the Patriots also brought up speedy receiver, Isaiah Zuber, converted linebacker Rashod Berry, defensive lineman Nick Thurman and offensive lineman Caleb Benenoch to the 53-man roster.

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The Patriots placed Sony Michel, Derek Rivers and Shaq Mason on the COVID-19 reserve list. Mason nor Rivers will play on Sunday, and Michel was already on IR. ESPN's Mike Reiss wrote: The New England Patriots have placed starting right guard Shaq Mason, reserve defensive end Derek Rivers and running back Sony Michel on the reserve/COVID-19 list, a source tells ESPN's Field Yates. Those placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list either have tested positive for COVID-19 or are a close contact to someone who tested positive. On Friday, the Patriots canceled practice after a positive COVID-19 test. Later that day, the club placed center James Ferentz on the reserve/COVID-19 list. The Patriots host the Denver Broncos on Sunday (CBS, 1 p.m. ET), and Ferentz, Mason and Rivers will not play in the game. Michel wouldn't have played anyway as he is on injured reserve. Starting defensive tackle Byron Cowart is also on the reserve/COVID-19 list, and will not play in the game. #Patriots #NewEnglandPatriots #CamNewton #StephonGilmore #DevinMcCourty #JasonMcCourty #JoshMcDaniels #JCJackson #LawrenceGuy #ChaseWinovich #JoshUche #KyleDugger #JoeThuney #JamesWhite #DamienHarris #JarrettStidham #AdamButler #JJTaylor #DevinAsiasi #DaltonKeene #JulianEdelman #NKealHarry #GunnerOlszewski #DavidAndrews #BillBelichick #RobertKraft #AFCEast #AFC #NFL

A post shared by Pats Nation 365 (@pats_nation_365) on Oct 17, 2020 at 4:40pm PDT