Saints report no new positive COVID-19 results after Friday tests

Friday’s round of COVID-19 testing returned no new positive results for the New Orleans Saints following the loss of wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders, who must spend 10 days on the NFL’s reserve list after expressing symptoms of the coronavirus and testing positive on Thursday.

Multiple local and national NFL reporters added that both the Saints and the Las Vegas Raiders, managing their own series of reserve list additions, are moving towards playing football on Sunday.

Sanders will be joined by cornerback Ken Crawley as an inactive this week due to prolonged exposure marking the backup corner as a high-risk candidate. Crawley has tested negative, but NFL rules require he be sidelined out of an abundance of caution.

Saints coach Sean Payton earlier said that “about 20” people who were around Sanders recently all retested negative, so the team is hopeful to avoid an outbreak of infections. All players are tested daily, including game days, so while they are in the clear for now that situation could change. That’s just part of playing a team sport during a pandemic.