METAIRIE, La. – After the New Orleans Saints endured a COVID breakout that left them without eight of their regular assistant coaches on the sideline last week, coach Sean Payton does not anticipate that will be a problem this weekend against New England.
Speaking via teleconference Wednesday, Payton declined to give a daily update on whether any of his coaches had tested negative, allowing them to return to practice, but he did say the window of time between their initial positive test and the Week 3 game against the Patriots should allow some to return.
“There’s a point where you’re just out of it because of time,” Payton said. “You no longer are contagious. So that is going to involve a handful of them by the end of the week.
“So there’s no way with the current setup where all these guys are going to miss New England because they’ll be at the 10-day mark where there’s no longer any risk of giving it to anyone.”
The Saints were without the following coaches for last week’s game against Carolina: Defensive line coach Ryan Nielsen, pass rush specialist Brian Young, wide receivers coach Curtis Johnson, tight ends coach Dan Roushar, running backs coach Joel Thomas, offensive analyst Jim Chaney, offensive assistant Declan Doyle and special teams assistant Phil Galiano.
Offensive line coach Brendan Nugent joined the team for game day, but was not present for the week of practice leading up to the Panthers game. Nielsen and Young were added to that list a day before the Panthers game, making their status murky for the Patriots game without a negative test.
The Saints’ coaching staff is 100 % vaccinated against COVID-19, meaning they can rejoin the team at any point after recording two negative tests in a 24-hour period.
Under the current NFL COVID protocols, those who test positive but are asymptomatic are allowed to return to the club after a 10-day isolation period, regardless of their vaccination status.
