Saints vs. Lions still on after a false-positive COVID-19 test

Tom Gatto

Saints vs. Lions still on after a false-positive COVID-19 test image

Sunday's NFL Week 4 game between the Saints and Lions will be played as scheduled after a COVID-19 scare.

Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio and NFL Media reported Saturday night that fullback Michael Burton tested positive for coronavirus and that the Saints learned of the test result after arriving in Detroit earlier in the day. Burton and seven other Saints players were tested or retested after contact tracing was done, according to the reports.

On Sunday morning, The Athletic and ESPN reported Burton's retest came back negative, rendering the situation a false alarm.

MORE: Players who have tested positive for COVID-19 during season

The NFL, Saints and Lions had not responded to the reports as of early Sunday. The game is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET on Sunday at Ford Field.

Two other Week 4 games have already been postponed because of positive tests. Sunday's Steelers-Titans matchup was moved to Week 7 after 18 Titans players and staffers tested positive, and the Sunday afternoon Patriots-Chiefs marquee matchup was postponed for at least a day because a New England player, reportedly quarterback Cam Newton, tested positive. A Chiefs player, reportedly practice squad quarterback Jordan Ta'amu, also tested positive.

The NFL did not move any games in the first three weeks of the 2020 season even though there were positive tests.

Tom Gatto

Tom Gatto Photo

Tom Gatto joined The Sporting News as a senior editor in 2000 after 12 years at The Herald-News in Passaic, N.J., where he served in a variety of roles including sports editor, and a brief spell at APBNews.com in New York, where he worked as a syndication editor. He is a 1986 graduate of the University of South Carolina.