Vikings News: First-round pick placed on COVID-19 list

Justin Jefferson is among four Minnesota Vikings players to be placed on the COVID-19 list.

Earlier on Monday, some Minnesota Vikings news was released regarding their head athletic trainer, Eric Sugarman, testing positive for the COVID-19 virus.

A little later in the day, the Vikings announced that four players have been placed on the team’s Reserve/COVID-19 list.

The four guys who have been placed on the list are all rookies and they include wide receiver Justin Jefferson, offensive tackle Blake Brandel, offensive lineman Tyler Higby, and safety Brian Cole II. Their designation does not necessarily mean they tested positive for the virus, it could just mean they have recently been exposed to someone who contracted it.

Vikings News: Is Justin Jefferson already starting camp from behind?

With the news of Jefferson landing on Minnesota’s Reserve/COVID-19 list, there’s a chance that the team’s 2020 first-round pick could miss some valuable time during the next few weeks.

If the young receiver or any of the other rookies who were placed on the list actually tested positive for the virus, they would be required to miss a minimum of five days. In order for them to return after only five days, they would have to be asymptomatic and have at least two future tests come back as negative.

It’s also possible that either of these four players could return to the Vikings facilities within 24 hours if they were only placed on the list due to contract tracing.

Heading into training camp, it was expected by most that there would be a number of players to be placed on every team’s Reserve/COVID-19 list. Despite being placed on the list, it’s still very possible that none of these for Minnesota rookies could miss on-field practice time.

Full-contact practices around the NFL aren’t allowed to begin until August 17. That’s still almost three weeks away. So even if the Vikings have to place more players on their Reserve/COVID list during the next few days, there’s still a good chance the team should have most of their current roster on the field when they begin the full-contact practices in August.

How much of an impact will this have on Minnesota? Time will tell, but hopefully, each of these four players is dealing with a very mild case of the virus at the worst and they can re-join their team for this summer’s training camp.