Jets claim 'false positive' coronavirus test result, plan to play on Sunday
It appears the New York Jets (0-4) will host the Arizona Cardinals (2-2) at MetLife Stadium on Sunday afternoon after all.
Roughly 10 hours after reports surfaced that the Jets sent players and staff members home after one player returned a presumptive positive COVID-19 test result, Gang Green announced that was a "false positive" and that everyone needed for Sunday's game has since tested negative:
This isn't the first time the NFL has reported questionable results of coronavirus tests since the start of the pandemic. In August, 77 samples from 11 teams returned positive results that were later confirmed to be inaccurate, which NFL chief medical officer Dr. Allen Sills referred to as an "incredibly rare event." Earlier that month, the Detroit Lions were less than pleased when quarterback Matthew Stafford was the victim of a "false positive" and had to spend time on the COVID-IR list.
When New England Patriots quarterback Cam Newton tested positive for the virus before last Sunday's game against the Kansas City Chiefs, the NFL flexed that matchup to the following night. Had no one else within Gang Green tested positive but the results of Friday's presumptive positive test remained inconclusive, the league could've postponed and moved the Jets-Cardinals game.
Outside of American professional football, the UFC, English Premier League, Major League Soccer, National Women's Soccer League, MLB, NBA, NHL and tennis competitions have all questioned the legitimacy of certain test results, at one time or another, since March.
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