NASHVILLE – This Sunday's Titans vs Steelers game at Nissan Stadium has been postponed.
The exact date hasn't been set, but it could be moved to either Monday or Tuesday.
An official date is expected to be set by the NFL in the coming days.
Here's the statement from the NFL:
"The Steelers-Titans game, originally scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m. ET, will be rescheduled to allow additional time for further daily COVID-19 testing and to ensure the health and safety of players, coaches and game day personnel. Details on a new game date and time either on Monday or Tuesday will be announced as soon as possible."
Titans coach Mike Vrabel said the team will be ready.
"We are preparing to play the football game now as early as Monday," Vrabel said. "I am confident the league will allow us time to practice, to get (players) on the field, and then moving with the game.
"(The players) said, "Coach, we'll play whenever they want us to play, and under any circumstances we'll prepare the best that we can, and we'll play," Vrabel said. "There's been no pushback. I asked this morning to just check in mentally, to see where they were. Guys were understanding of the situation, guys weren't looking to point fingers or blame anybody, they were looking for ways to make us better and help us out in this situation. … We are proceeding to play not on Sunday, but potentially Monday or Tuesday. We'll be ready, we'll be focused."
On Tuesday, the Titans placed defensive lineman DaQuan Jones and long snapper Beau Brinkley from the team's 53-man roster to the Reserve/COVID-19 list, along with tight end Tommy Hudson from the team's practice squad.
On Monday, Vrabel said Titans outside linebackers coach Shane Bowen did not travel with the team to Minneapolis for Sunday's game due to COVID-19 testing protocols.
The team continues to test on a regular basis for COVID-19, and the results of those tests will determine if, in fact, the game can be played within the next week.
The new reserve list category was created for a player who either tests positive for COVID-19 or who has been quarantined after having been in close contact with an infected person or persons. If a player falls into either of these categories, his club is required to immediately place the player on the Reserve/COVID-19 list. Per agreed upon NFL-NFLPA policy, clubs are not permitted to comment on player's medical status other than referring to roster status. Clubs may not disclose whether player is in quarantine or is positive for COVID-19.
On a video conference call on Tuesday night, Steelers head Mike Tomlin said the team is preparing to travel to Tennessee.
"We've been given a mandate to prepare as if the game is going to be played, and played on time," Tomlin said. "We're going to trust the medical experts. We're going to go down (there) with the intention of playing and playing to win."
