3:20 PM
The NFL Players Association renewed its push for daily COVID-19 testing on Wednesday, after an unprecedented surge of infections this week among its members.
Since training camp, the NFLPA has been negotiating for more tests.
The union said that the league decided to take away a critical weapon in the fight against the transmission of COVID-19 despite the union's call for daily testing. We're talking to our player leadership and the NFL about possible changes to the protocols so that we can finish the season.
The rush continued Wednesday after 75 players returned positive tests.
The owners and executives of the National Football League are gathered outside of Dallas to discuss ways to combat the surge.
The league will have more positive player tests this week than it did in the first three months of the season.
All players, coaches and staff were tested daily. The schedule for all vaccine recipients was pulled back in 2021.
The players are still required to take a daily test. The NFL increased testing to once per week shortly before the start of the regular season, but vaccinated players started training camp with tests every 14 days.
In September, the president of the NFLPA wrote that daily testing was necessary to minimize the chance of spread. The NFL's chief medical officer has said on multiple occasions this season that there were clusters of positive cases among teams that were caused by community infections. The league's program can separate strains of the virus to find the source.
All possibilities are being considered this week with cases rising around the league.
