Las Vegas Raiders place DT Maurice Hurst on Reserve/COVID-19 list following game against Buffalo Bills

The Las Vegas Raiders have placed defensive tackle Maurice Hurst on the Reserve/COVID-19 list per Mike Garafolo of NFL Network and Adam Schefter at ESPN. The move comes just two days after the Raiders’ game against the Buffalo Bills.

Hurst was placed on the list for one of two reasons; either he tested positive or he has a close contact who did. Because players aren’t tested on the day of the game, if he did test positive it would be from the Monday test after he tested negative Saturday morning (with the test returned Sunday). Either way, there’s a good chance he was infected before the game against the Buffalo Bills if he is indeed COVID-positive.

Hurst played 35 snaps in the middle of the Raiders defensive line, potentially exposing members of the Buffalo Bills’ interior offensive line to the coronavirus. While there is no documented case of COVID-19 passing from one team to another, the offensive and defensive lines would be the most likely scenario because of the prolonged and continuous exposure. The Minnesota Vikings have so far escaped positive tests after playing the Tennessee Titans more than a week ago, and are likely out of the woods.

Obviously this is a situation that will bear monitoring all the way up until the Bills’ game against the Titans on Sunday. They will need to be especially vigilant in their distancing this week in order to prevent the potential spread inside the Bills’ locker room.