Report: Texans had a “batch” of false positive tests before Sunday’s game

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The Texans had a “batch” of false positive COVID-19 tests in advance of Sunday’s game against the Steelers, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle reports.

The report does not indicate when the false positives occurred, but subsequent retests were negative and no player missed Sunday’s game because of a false positive test.

“The system worked,” Wilson quoted a source as saying.

Players are tested daily, including a “pregame” test the morning before the game. Before the beginning of the season, the NFL implemented a new protocol that accelerated the process of identifying false positives. It assured that if a player tests positive on a Saturday — and it’s determined to be a false positive — he still could play the following day.

The new protocol came in response to a lab error saw the NFL hit with 77 false positive tests in mid-August.

The Texans have not had any positive COVID-19 tests, according to Wilson, and have not placed any players on the reserve-COVID-19 list since reporting for training camp. Several players tested positive during the summer.