Random Ramsdom: NFL had 77 ‘false positives’ coronavirus tests over the weekend

Over the weekend, the NFL and their coronavirus testing partner, a lab in New Jersey called BioReference, were part of a significant mishap that included over 77 tests that were deemed “false positives.”

Up to this point in training camp, the positive rate among NFL players has consistently been under 1%. When a significant increase in positive tests appeared on Saturday, it obviously raised some alarms. Incredibly, after a second point of testing to confirm these results, every single one of the initial positives came back negative.

While that’s obviously good news, it does raise alarms about the current reliability of the labs process.

After a thorough investigation involving all staffers of the lab, they found out a contamination was the likely cause of the rash of false positives.

A number of teams affected — which included the Steelers, Bears, and Jets — all decided on their own measures to take in response to the news. Some teams canceled Sunday’s practice, some postponed it to later in the day while they waited for more news, and some went ahead and practiced as scheduled.

Initially, this looked like it was about to be horrible news for the NFL just a few weeks before their opening game on Thursday, Sept. 10, but they managed to scrape by unscathed. Going forward, expect their to be extra testing to make sure there isn’t a scare like this again.

Now for today’s links.

Rams News:

J.B. Long discusses how the Rams hope to build off their success in the red zone from last season (TheRams.com)

Stu Jackson gives us his 10 takeaways from the Rams’ latest scrimmage (TheRams.com)

Cameron DaSilva reports on Sean McVay’s displeasure with the artificial crowd noise from Saturday’s scrimmage (The Rams Wire)

Bret Stuter talks the Rams’ current starters along the offensive line (Ramblin’ Fan)

NFL News:

Bill Barnwell lists six players he believes are long shots to win MYVP in 2020 (ESPN)

Mike Clay lists the 192 players who should be drafted this year in fantasy (ESPN)

Ryan Wilson ranks his top 100 players for the 2021 NFL draft (CBS Sports)

Adam Wells details the notion that S Earl Thomas was not “well-liked” by this teammates in Baltimore (Bleacher Report)

Every one of the 77 tests that came back positive over the weekend have been confirmed as false positives (Pro Football Talk)

2020 NFL MVP Lamar Jackson is dealing with a soft tissue injury (Pro Football Talk)