The New Orleans Saints are reportedly facing discipline again for violating the NFL’s COVID-19 policies during Week 17.
Running back Alvin Karmara was placed on the team’s reserve/COVID-19 list in January and missed the Saints’ game in Week 17 as a result. Kamara reportedly interacted with a person not employed by the Saints in the team’s facility who later tested positive, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport.
The violation was captured on surveillance video obtained by the NFL, Pelissero and Rapoport report.
The Saints’ entire running back corps later were declared out of the Week 17 contest because they were deemed close contacts of Kamara. Saints running backs coach Joel Thomas was also unavailable for the game.
Kamara was able to return during the wild-card round because of a favourable scheduling decision.
This is the Saints’ third offence, meaning this will likely be the most severe punishment to date. New Orleans was fined $250,000 and coach Sean Payton was fined $100,000 in Week 2 for failing to properly wear a face covering. Following the team’s Week 9 win, the Saints were fined $500,000 and lost a seventh-round pick for a maskless celebration in the club’s locker room.
The discipline for the reported Kamara violation has not been finalized yet, but may include a larger fine and the loss of higher draft picks.
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