Bears TE Jimmy Graham takes issue with NFLPA proposal of daily testing for vaccinated players

CHICAGO — Coach Matt Nagy said he is hopeful that the Chicago Bears won’t have to put more players on the reserve/COVID-19 list after four went on it earlier this week.

The Bears placed nose tackle Eddie Goldman on the reserve/COVID-19 list Tuesday after he tested positive, and offensive tackle Elijah Wilkinson, long snapper Patrick Scales and inside linebacker Christian Jones also went on the list, which is for players who test positive or are close contacts with someone who did.

Wednesday was an off day, and the Bears held a non-padded practice Thursday morning at Halas Hall. Nagy didn’t have an update on the status of the four players before the team went out to the fields, and they were not present at practice.

Nagy was asked if there was a possibility the Bears were dealing with a false positive test, but he declined to comment.

“These experiences that you go through, it allows you to understand that things can still happen, just like last year,” Nagy said. “This isn’t just a football thing. This is a worldwide thing that we all have to recognize is still going pretty good.”

Goldman opted out of the 2020 season because he was high risk for COVID-19. He said last week he was comfortable with the Bears’ safety precautions, including NFL contract-tracing devices.

The four players were the first from the Bears to go on the list this season. Quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo missed time last week after testing positive, but he returned to Halas Hall this week.

During the 2020 season, the Bears had nine players test positive from August on, with two clusters of positive tests among offensive linemen in November and practice-squad players in December. Only one starter, offensive lineman Cody Whitehair, tested positive. The Bears also dealt with a group of nine false positive tests as part of an NFL lab error during training camp last year.

Nagy said he learned from those situations to stay calm when a positive test pops up.

“This year, zero panic,” Nagy said. “When stuff like this happens, we learned from that (last year). It’s our job as leaders to make sure the players feel that and know that. It is what it is. We’re going to educate and encourage all of these players to do everything the right way in what we feel can help us and help them as people. But at the same time, you’re not going to get any panic from me.”

The NFLPA told players this week that they will recommend to the NFL daily testing for all players and staff to help protect against the spread of COVID-19. Vaccinated players currently only are required to test every 14 days, while unvaccinated players undergo daily testing.

In a memo to players detailing concerns about the delta variant, the NFLPA said that there were 65 positive tests among players and staff from July 25-Aug. 1, and 32 of them were among vaccinated individuals. The NFLPA stated such breakthrough cases are consistent with CDC findings on the delta variant and noted the vaccine still protects against severe disease.

The NFL, which imposed more restrictions on unvaccinated players within team facilities including masking and social distancing requirements, announced Wednesday that 90.3% of players were vaccinated.

In reference to the NFLPA recommendation for daily testing, Bears tight end Jimmy Graham tweeted he “was basically forced into getting the vaccine. Now I’m confused.”

Graham, who is vaccinated, said his issue was with the NFLPA not consulting players on the proposed change.

“I thought we had a game plan coming into the season and it already feels like we’re already kind of running away from that,” he said. “I did what I was asked to do to come in here so I can practice and be in here every day and play every day. And now it’s a bit frustrating, you know?”

Graham is concerned about potentially having to be tested on off days and during the bye week, though the NFLPA stated in the memo it would not recommend such testing. He also took issue with the fines imposed on players who miss tests. NFL training camp protocols state a missed test by vaccinated and unvaccinated players will result in a $50,000 fine. Graham said information he was presented with indicated the max fine could be as high as $150,000 for a missed test.

Graham said his issues with the NFLPA go back a couple of years and include the agreement to a 17-game season, which begins this year. He said he had to tweet at the NFLPA this offseason to get information he needed.

“I understand in ways what’s going on, but it’s more a culmination of a lot of things, of maybe at times information not being passed on,” Graham said. “I’ve got a lot of guys in the NBA I know. I’ve got a lot of guys in MLB. They don’t have these situations with their PA. They’re pretty strong. At times, I feel like there’s a lot of miscommunication. There’s a lot of things being done, and we have no say in it. … I’m not going to hold back. I’m a grown man. And I wish somebody would talk to me and speak to me like a grown man and let me have a little bit of say in some things.”

Graham said the circumstances will not affect his desire to play: “I’m going to go out here and score touchdowns, regardless.”

Nagy said he hadn’t yet spoken with Graham, but said they have a close enough relationship that Graham could come to him if there was an issue.

Nagyy said the Bears have focused on educating and encouraging players about the vaccine. At least 85% of Bears players were vaccinated at the beginning of camp, general manager Ryan Pace said.

“We’re all still learning in this process and things change,” Nagy said. “We are not back to 2019 where things were normal. … On the front end, we have to learn what the rules are per the league of fully vaccinated versus non-vaccinated and how that works. We’re all kind of learning, but I think our guys have been great so far. I really do. They are following all the rules and they are doing what they are supposed to do and they really have not talked about it too much. But with what happened the other day they are probably all saying, ‘OK, man, this is real, this is what we have to do.’ ”