Baltimore Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey announced on Monday that he has tested positive for COVID-19. Along with the announcement of his positive test, the 24-year-old said, "hopefully I'll be back healthy soon." The Ravens have since released a statement acknowledging that a player within the organization had tested positive and are working within the league's protocols to track Humphrey's close contacts.
"We were informed early this morning that a Ravens player has tested positive for COVID-19," the team said in a statement. "He immediately began to self-quarantine, and our organization is now in the NFL's intensive protocol. In coordination with the league, we have started the process of contact tracing and are following the guidelines of intensive protocol.
"The health and safety of our players, staff and community continue to be our highest priority. We will continue to work closely with the NFL and our team doctors and will follow their guidance."
On Tuesday, ESPN's Jamison Hensley revealed seven more players that would be placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list this week. Those players were linebacker Matt Judon, linebacker Patrick Queen, safety DeShon Elliott, linebacker L.J. Fort, linebacker Malik Harrison, cornerback Terrell Bonds and linebacker Tyus Bowser. This doesn't necessarily mean that all of these players will miss the Ravens' Week 9 matchup with the Indianapolis Colts, but it is likely they will miss all practice sessions this week. They will be able to play on Sunday if they pass five days of testing, and it's certainly a storyline to keep in mind considering the amount of important names that were included in this list.
Of course, the concern also stretches beyond just the Ravens organization and extends to the Pittsburgh Steelers, who Baltimore faced on Sunday. In that 28-24 loss, Humphrey played in 100% of the defensive snaps, which naturally would increase his exposure to more players both on the Ravens and Steelers. To this point, all of the Steelers COVID-19 tests have come back negative, according to Dianna Russini of ESPN.
Humphrey is a key piece to Baltimore's secondary and just signed a five-year, $98.75 million extension with the club earlier this season. After getting his first-ever Pro Bowl nod along with earning first-team All-Pro honors in 2019, Humphrey has continued his strong play in the early goings of 2020. Through seven games played (all starters), the corner has 40 tackles, four forced fumbles, five passes defended, and one interception. Losing him for any period of time will be a big blow to this secondary as they continue to position themselves for a deep postseason run.