The New Orleans Saints had unfortunate news to report this Friday. It turns out head coach Sean Payton has tested positive for COVID-19 and will miss this Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Payton’s absence will certainly affect the Saints. He’s one of the best offensive play-callers in the entire league.
Although this is a huge blow to the Saints’ offense, it’s worth mentioning the coaching staff already got a jump on their plan for Week 15 without Payton. That’s because he missed Wednesday’s practice due to an illness.
Katherine Terrell of The Athletic put together a timeline of Payton’s unfortunate week.
“Timeline: Sean Payton did not feel well on Wednesday and wasn’t at practice. Saints told us he tested negative for COVID-19 at that time. We did not talk to him on Thursday and he returned to practice that day. He tested positive today. This is his second time to test positive,” Terrell wrote.
Timeline: Sean Payton did not feel well on Wednesday and wasn’t at practice. Saints told us he tested negative for COVID-19 at that time. We did not talk to him on Thursday and he returned to practice that day. He tested positive today. This is his second time to test positive
— Katherine Terrell (@Kat_Terrell) December 17, 2021
This is the second time that Payton has tested positive for COVID-19 over the last two years.
This is the second time Sean Payton has had COVID. The first time was in the off-season in 2020. https://t.co/AjbZwgh9mX
— Amie Just (@Amie_Just) December 17, 2021
With Payton out for this Sunday’s game, defensive coordinator Dennis Allen will assume the duties of head coach for the Saints.
Defensive Coordinator Dennis Allen will assume the duties of head coach for the December 19th game at Tampa Bay.
Payton will return to coach the December 27th game against the Miami Dolphins.
— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) December 17, 2021
It’ll be interesting to see how the Saints perform on Sunday without Payton on the sideline.
Kickoff for the Buccaneers-Saints game is at 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC.
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