South Carolina football: Stephon Gilmore tests positive for COVID
By Jacob Elsey
The former South Carolina football player is the second high-profile Patriot to test positive.
Late last week, the New England Patriots received word that starting quarterback Cam Newton had tested positive for the Coronavirus ahead of their Sunday matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs. The team was still able to play, though the game was postponed until Monday. Brian Hoyer and Jarrett Stidham struggled in relief of the star signal caller, as the Patriots lost 26-10.
This morning, the organization learned that another star player has tested positive for the virus. The Patriots placed reigning defensive player of the year Stephon Gilmore on the reserve list Wednesday morning, citing COVID as the reason for his absence. The news was first reported by NFL Network analyst Tom Pelissero.
Stephon Gilmore is the only #Patriots player to test positive from Tuesday's round of testing, per source. The reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year now joins Cam Newton on the Reserve/COVID-19 list. https://t.co/MWOpsyjhsk
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) October 7, 2020
Gilmore has continued his run as football’s top defensive back in 2020. After a picking off a league-leading six passes in 2019, the former Gamecock has tallied 11 tackles, an interception, and a forced fumble over his first four games of the year.
On Monday night, he played tough against a prolific Kansas City offensive attack, locking down Chief receivers and stripping Sammy Watkins early in the first half. Unfortunately, the New England offense proved to be subpar with Newton out of the lineup, recording only 10 points and turning the ball over on numerous occasions. Patriot quarterbacks threw four interceptions, including one that was returned for a score in the game’s final period.
Stephon Gilmore with the forced fumble!
— NFL (@NFL) October 5, 2020
The @Patriots defense takes it right back. #GoPats
📺: #NEvsKC on CBS
📱: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app: https://t.co/9fyGwoYxWA pic.twitter.com/rrNvtqj2q3
New England was originally slated to play the Broncos this Sunday afternoon at 4:25 PM. It remains to be seen how the NFL will handle the scheduling of the game. The league decided to move a matchup between the Steelers and Titans from week 4 to week 7 following an outbreak in the Tennessee locker room. And, as we saw this past weekend, the Patriots were forced to play on Monday as opposed to Sunday after the Cam Newton report.
If the game does go on as planned, the team may be without its best offensive and defensive players, which could mean more tough sledding for the Patriots in week 5.