Days after the Jets were forced to play a game without their head coach, their upcoming opponent, the Buccaneers, may be without their head coach when they play Sunday at MetLife Stadium.
Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians on Tuesday tested positive for COVID-19, the team announced. Arians is isolating at home.
“I tested positive for COVID-19 this morning but have only experienced mild symptoms to this point,” Arians said in a statement issued by the team.
Assistant head coach and run game coordinator Harold Goodwin will handle Arians’ duties on an interim basis. It’s uncertain whether Arians will be cleared to coach Sunday.
“I have complete confidence in him and the rest of our coaching staff to prepare the team for this week’s game against the Jets,” Arians said of Goodwin in the statement. “I look forward to rejoining the team and being back in the facility as soon as I can test back in.”
This past Sunday, Jets head coach Robert Saleh was forced to watch the game while isolating at a New Jersey hotel after he tested positive. As of Tuesday, Saleh was still holding out hope he will be cleared in time to coach his team this week.
Arians, 69, has a history of health issues, including a prostate cancer diagnosis in 2007, a skin cancer diagnosis in 2013 and renal cell carcinoma that required part of his kidney to be removed in 2017.
Arians is the second member of the Bucs’ coaching staff to test positive this week. On Monday, wide receivers coach Kevin Garver tested positive, as did receiver Mike Evans.
On Tuesday, the Bucs also announced cornerbacks Sean Murphy-Bunting and Jamal Dean would be placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list, bringing the total for Tampa Bay players and coaches to seven.
The Jets’ COVID-19 list grew to 20 before last Sunday’s game against Jacksonville, a total that included seven starters.
Two more Jets were added to the Covid list — linebacker Jarrad Davis and practice squad guard Isaiah Williams.
— additional reporting by Brian Costello