Chargers coach Anthony Lynn reveals he had coronavirus on 'Hard Knocks'

The latest season of "Hard Knocks" premiered Tuesday night on HBO, focusing on the two NFL teams based in L.A., the Rams and the Chargers. The premiere episode began with Chargers coach Anthony Lynn revealing that he had the coronavirus previously, serving as a warning to his players and staff about the dangerous infectivity of COVID-19.

"I can’t promise you you’re not going to get infected," Lynn said during a video call about safety protocols with players. "I got infected."

Fortunately, Lynn has fully recovered but the announcement still seemed to surprise several players, including Joey Bosa. Lynn becomes the third confirmed NFL coach to have COVID, along with Sean Payton and Doug Pederson. 

Lynn spoke about his experience with having coronavirus, saying that he dealt with a mild cough and some body aches. Lynn didn't even think about getting tested until he watched a golf tournament where a golfer had to withdraw due to coronavirus. Lynn noticed the golfer had similar symptoms to him. But according to Lynn, the emotional toll was worse than the physical.

"The first thing, you feel a little bit like an outcast. That was probably harder for me than the sickness," he said. "I was feeling like, 'I can't go here or I'm going to infect this person.' When you're used to fixing the problem, now I'm the problem."

This is the Chargers' first real brush with COVID, as they are one of the few teams that did not have any players opt out and have not had to put any players on the COVID-19/reserve list.