Steelers place Ben Roethlisberger, three others on reserve/COVID-19 list
The Pittsburgh Steelers announced on Tuesday morning that they’ve placed four players on the reserve/COVID-19 list, and one of them is a pretty important guy: quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.
In addition to Roethlisberger, the Steelers placed offensive lineman Jerald Hawkins, running back Jaylen Samuels, and linebacker Vince Williams on the list. These moves come less than a day after the team moved tight end Vance McDonald to the reserve/COVID-19 list and announced that one of their players had tested positive.
The reserve/COVID-19 list is for players who have tested positive or who have come into close contact with someone who has tested positive. It appears that those four players are high-risk close contacts, because the Steelers said in their statement that they are all required to isolate from the team for five days. None of them will be allowed into the Steelers’ facility, but they will be able to participate in meetings virtually.
Roethlisberger, Hawkins, Samuels, and Williams will need five days of negative tests before they can be reinstated from the list. The earliest they could be activated is Saturday or Sunday, the day the Steelers face the Cincinnati Bengals.
It’s never good when your quarterback isn’t allowed to practice with the team right up until the next game. However, since Roethlisberger hurt both knees during Sunday’s wild win against the Dallas Cowboys, it may not be the worst thing for him to take it easy. He and the rest of the team shouldn’t sleep on the 2-5-1 Bengals though, especially considering the Steelers narrowly avoided losing to a two-win team just a few days ago.
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