© Brian Fluharty-USA TODAY Sports
Well… at least it’s a bye week? The 49ers’ season from hell continues in fashion that is, if nothing else, apropos. If the deluge of injuries was not enough to quench your thirst for disaster, the global pandemic, which, well, never stopped being a pandemic, is still here to provide that. Try (perhaps being a strong term in this case) as it might, the NFL was never invulnerable from COVID-19.
Now, after Arik Armstead reportedly tested positive for the virus and was placed on the reserve/COVID-19, list six other teammates have been added to the list. This is not surprising given that head coach Kyle Shanahan said Tuesday that he expected to have to add names to the last as close contacts.
Players on the reserve/COVID-19 list haven’t necessarily contracted the virus, but may have been exposed, in close proximity, with someone who has. The 49ers’ list looks as follows:
- Arik Armstead (Monday)
- Javon Kinlaw (Wednesday)
- Joe Walker (Thursday)
- Hroniss Grasu (Thursday)
- Brandon Aiyuk (Friday)
- Trent Williams (Friday)
- Daniel Helm (Friday)
According to the Centers for Disease Control, the virus has an incubation period of 2-14 days, meaning that there are varying degrees of time it can take for those exposed to the virus to contract it.
In other news, the 49ers waived/failed physical edge rusher Takkarist McKinley, who they claimed from the Cincinnati Bengals… after McKinley had failed his physical there with a groin injury. Despite how desperate San Francisco is for assistance on the edge, it is evident McKinley’s groin injury is not a minor one.