The pandemic has taken a bite out of the Bengals’ ability to achieve maximum benefit from their coaching staff.
The Bengals have announced that three additional assistant coaches will be unable to attend today’s game, for COVID-19 reasons. They are linebackers coach Al Golden, secondary/cornerbacks coach Steve Jackson, and senior defensive assistant Mark Duffner.
On Friday, the Bengals announced that receiver coach Bob Bicknell will miss the game.
According to the team, defensive quality control coach Jordan Kovacs will assume Golden’s responsibilities, secondary/safeties coach Robert Livingston will take over Jackson’s job, and defensive assistant Gerald Chatman will assume Duffner’s duties.
It’s unclear whether the assistant coaches tested positive or whether they were in close proximity to someone who has it. It’s possible that one or more of them submitted a sample on Saturday that came back positive this morning. That would mean they traveled with the team and otherwise were around coaches or players, possibly while shedding virus.