Mark Madden: Titans need to treat covid like an injury; game against Steelers should be played

At Monday’s media session, coach Mike Tomlin said the Steelers were told to proceed as if Sunday’s game at Tennessee will be played despite the Titans’ covid outbreak.

It may yet take place. But it will be played Monday or Tuesday, not Sunday. Further postponement via juggling bye weeks seems possible, and perhaps likely.

It’s a bad precedent. The NFL is erring, likely for the sake of optics.

Covid must be treated as an injury. Isolate players who test positive. Test and re-test players who don’t. If they come up OK, they play. Any other approach is dumb.

Replace those stricken with those further down the depth chart. That’s exactly what the depth chart is for.

It’s different if two dozen players have covid, or the entire quarterback room. But four is a very manageable number.

Covid has caused our nation to embrace stupid far too often, so more detours could easily occur. The wild card could be the Steelers players: What if they refuse to take the field against a team that’s been hit by covid? But there is no hint of that being in play.

Political intervention seems unlikely. But be happy that the game isn’t scheduled for Heinz Field. If it was, Gov. Dipstick might feel the need to curry favor with his side of the street.

The NFL’s first covid outbreak has led to projections of calamity by those who root for covid by way of serving agendas: “This is the beginning of the end for the NFL season.”

That may be said with deep gravitas, but it’s a load of horse manure.

MLB had covid problems, most notably with Miami and St. Louis. Similar doomsday prophecies were issued, but MLB buttoned up its protocol, invented doubleheaders with games of seven innings each, the difficulties lessened and — lo and behold — 28 of 30 teams completed the 60-game schedule, with Detroit and St. Louis playing 58 each.

That’s no big deal: Late-season rainouts often cause teams to play a few games shy of 162, especially when those games have no meaning to the standings.

MLB forged ahead in the noblest of pursuits: TV money. The NFL gets even more of that and won’t be stopped by a body count, let alone four lousy cases of covid. (Bring out your dead! CLANK! Bring out your dead! CLANK!)

Tennessee faces certain challenges: They can’t return to their facility until Saturday (if then), which means preparing primarily via Zoom before playing the Steelers. But the classroom is the biggest part of getting ready in today’s NFL. The Titans will be OK. (Why can’t they use another facility ‘til Saturday?)

The Steelers might feel aggrieved: Moving the game to Monday or Tuesday gives them a short week before hosting Philadelphia the following Sunday. The Titans’ problem shouldn’t become the Steelers’ problem. Nor should the Steelers be dramatic if that’s the situation.

America’s big-time sports leagues deserve credit for their success in handling covid. The setbacks have been minimal, albeit overdramatized. Young, fit athletes are likely not vulnerable in the long term. Everybody involved could have opted out (and some did).

Now it’s time to get limited amounts of fans back in stadium. The notion of which is being treated in some circles like the Hindenburg disaster. (The Titans outbreak, despite having no relevance to spectators attending, will illogically hurt that pursuit. Bet that.)

Why couldn’t 15,000 people be in Heinz Field on a Steelers Sunday (or a Pitt Saturday)? If wearing a mask and social distancing in that situation isn’t enough, what’s the point of wearing a mask and social distancing anywhere?

Those precautions wouldn’t be enough. You’d need organized entrance and exit plans, too. Protocol at the concession stands and restrooms, too.

Zero tolerance would be necessary: If you don’t comply, you’re denied admission or ejected. No medical excuses, real or fabricated. NFL games are a product sold by a privately-owned business. Terms can be dictated. No debate. No negotiation.

If uncooperative fans prove too big a problem, then stop admitting fans once that happens. But don’t assume the worst. You don’t know until you try.

Perhaps head coaches should be barred from NFL games. Five were fined $100,000 (and their teams $250,000) for not wearing masks on the sideline as per NFL rules.

Las Vegas coach Jon Gruden symbolically flipped off the NFL regarding his fine by donning a miniature, minimal, Origami-looking parody of a mask in the Raiders’ second game. New England’s Bill Belichick is wearing a similar contraption.

NFL coaches are the most self-important people on Earth. Anything disrupting their routine is the enemy.

It’s not a debate. It’s a rule. Wear the mask, or keep paying fines. If it continues, suspend these puffed-up egomaniacs.