Emmanuel Sanders placed on COVID-19/reserve list, won't play against Panthers
The New Orleans Saints placed wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders on the COVID-19/reserve list Friday. He will not play during the team’s Week 7 game against the Carolina Panthers.
Sanders told the team he wasn’t feeling well and was sent for a coronavirus test. That test came back positive, causing the Saints to perform contact tracing. The team tested 20 other members of the organization who came in close contact with Sanders. All those tests came back negative, according to Saints head coach Sean Payton.
Payton on Emmanuel Sanders being placed on the reserve-COVID list #Saints pic.twitter.com/Sqp2fW7wwD
— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) October 23, 2020
Payton noted that cornerback Ken Crawley tested negative, but will remain out since he was close to Sanders during practice. Sanders was present at Saints practice Thursday.
Payton didn’t want to reveal too much about Sanders, but said Sanders contracted coronavirus at home and “knows exactly how he got it.”
Sean Payton on Emmanuel Sanders testing positive for COVID-19: Protocols have been outstanding. He got this at home. He knows exactly how he got it, and I'll leave it at that.
— Katherine Terrell (@Kat_Terrell) October 23, 2020
Saints will be without Michael Thomas in Week 7
With the Sanders news, the Saints will be without their top two wide receivers against the Panthers. Michael Thomas was unable to practice Friday due to a hamstring injury. Thomas injured himself during Wednesday’s practice. He has played in just one game this season due to a high ankle sprain. The Saints ruled Thomas out for Sunday’s game.
With Thomas out, Drew Brees will have to hope some combination of Marquez Callaway, Jared Cook, Alvin Kamara and Tre’Quan Smith can put up numbers against Carolina.
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