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The Saints are set to face off against the Dolphins for Monday Night Football in Week 16, but they’ll be without several key players for the game. With Taysom Hill and Trevor Siemian on the reserve/COVID list, they’ll be starting third-string rookie Ian Book in this primetime matchup. On the other side of the ball, they’ll be without All-Pro linebacker Demario Davis and former Pro Bowl safety Malcolm Jenkins. Can they eek out a win in primetime without key players to help their cause?
Here’s the full list of players currently going on the Saints reserve/COVID-19 list. We’ll update as new names come in.
Saints players on COVID-19 list
QB Taysom Hill
QB Trevor Siemian
RB Dwayne Washington
TE Adam Trautman
TE Juwan Johnson
T Ryan Ramczyk
OL Jordan Mills
OL James Carpenter
LB Demario Davis
S JT Gray
S Malcolm Jenkins
S Jeff Heath
DT Christian Ringo
DE Jalyn Holmes
DE Carl Granderson
LB Kaden Elliss
With the new rules in place, a vaccinated player has a chance of returning within a day or two of going on the list while an unvaccinated player would miss either a minimum of five days as a close contact or ten days with a positive test result.
If vaccinated, a player can return if he is asymptomatic for at least 24 hours by one of the following options:
- He receives two BRL PCR test results that are either negative or produce Cycle Threshold (CT) values of 35 or greater; OR
- He receives one BRL PCR test result that is either negative or produces CT values of 35 or greater and a negative Mesa test result from a test taken within 24 hours of the BRL PCR test. Both tests can be taken at the same time or less than 24 hours apart; OR
- He receives two negative MESA tests 24 hours after the initial swab was taken, but can be taken concurrently provided it’s two separate new swabs.
The previous policy required two negative tests at least 24 hours apart, but that has been cut down considerably with these new protocols that allow for quicker returns.