No Giants players received a false positive COVID-19 test even though the team uses the same New Jersey-based processing lab responsible for a rash of misdiagnosed results around the NFL this weekend, according to a league source.
The entire Giants roster was on the practice field at 1:30 p.m. Sunday. The only members of the organization affected were staffers told to stay home, as first reported by Sports Illustrated.
“We have a trailer in our parking lot where everyone in our organization gets tested on a daily basis,” coach Joe Judge said. “There is a survey you fill out first relating to any symptoms, then you go through the nose swab and the temperature check. Then they let you in. You go about your day. You get the results later on.”
What if this happened on a regular-season weekend?
“We put down a contingency plan for if any coach or staff member wasn’t available on a daily basis,” Judge said. “It’s not just if one person is missing. What if multiple people are missing? Who handles each responsibility?
“We’re going beyond the coaching staff right now to keep a lot of different people in the organization involved so that, if it was ever an emergency situation, we have people who are up to date schematically and conceptually on what we are doing football-wise to have as many hands on deck available for us.”
The reinforcements include strength coaches, quality control coaches, analytics interns and more.
“These are people involved in our meetings every day,” Judge said. “As far as I’m concerned, if you are in a meeting, you better learn the material. If you know the material, you better have a voice when it’s asked. That’s what an emergency would be — when you have to go outside the framework of your immediate coaching staff.”
