Bills Player Tests Positive For COVID-19 For Second Time

The Buffalo Bills are getting ready to host the Carolina Panthers at Highmark Stadium this Sunday.

The Bills are 7-6 and currently hold the final playoff spot in the AFC postseason picture. They have two games remaining against NFC opponents (Carolina, Atlanta) and two against AFC East teams (New England, New York Jets).

The biggest question marks coming into Sunday's game are the injuries with players like Bills quarterback Josh Allen and wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders.

According to Bills head coach Sean McDermott on Friday morning with WGR radio in Buffalo, Allen should be good to go for the game, but Sanders has been ruled out.

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McDermott also said that starting left tackle Dion Dawkins has tested positive for COVID-19 and has been placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list.

This is the second time Dawkins has had COVID-19, as he battled a serious case of the virus at the start of Bills training camp this past summer.

The NFL and NFLPA agreed to new COVID-19 protocols in light of the leaguewide positive tests this week, due to the Omicron variant.

A player who is placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list, who is fully vaccinated and asymptomatic, can come off the list after one negative test, instead of the previous two negative tests.

However, Dawkins was placed on the list today, so the odds of him being cleared to play in time for Sunday are unlikely, given there's only 48 hours of time to work with.

If Dawkins cannot start, it will likely be rookie tackle Tommy Doyle or veteran Bobby Hart starting in Dawkins place, assuming rookie right tackle Spencer Brown stays at his spot on the right side of the line.

Hopefully, Dawkins is okay.