The Patriots will work remotely for the second straight day on Thursday and head coach Bill Belichick said he doesn’t know if they will be back to in-person work on Friday.
Belichick said on a conference call that those are “medical decisions” rather than football ones and that the team is deferring to those people in the wake of positive COVID-19 tests in the organization.
“It’s the health and safety of the team first and football second,” Belichick said.
The Patriots played on Monday despite quarterback Cam Newton testing positive for COVID-19 before the trip and cornerback Stephon Gilmore, who had close contact with Newton, has since tested positive as well. Belichick said the team “followed all the protocols” laid out by the league when it came to playing that game, including traveling in two planes so that those who had contact with Newton weren’t mixed in with the rest of the group.
Belichick was asked if he regrets having made the trip in light of Gilmore’s test and said that it was not in the team’s control. He said that his focus is on the things they can control and, at the moment, that doesn’t include much about the plans for Sunday’s game.