CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Carolina Panthers wide receiver Curtis Samuel was activated Friday from the reserve/COVID-19 list and will play Sunday against the Denver Broncos.
However, fellow wideout DJ Moore remains on the reserve list and is unlikely to be available for the 1 p.m. ET game between the 4-8 teams. Moore has not practiced all week since being one of eight players added to the reserve/COVID-19 list Monday.
Of those on the 53-man roster placed on the reserve list, only Moore and defensive tackle Zach Kerr remain on it. Samuel, outside linebacker Shaq Thompson and defensive tackle Derrick Moore were removed from the list Friday, and all are expected to play Sunday.
TEMPE, Ariz. — Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald said his mind wandered to dark places and he started preparing for the worst-case scenario during his 13-day quarantine at home because of the coronavirus.
Fitzgerald, 37, was put on the reserve/COVID-19 list on Thanksgiving. He started feeling symptoms two days later, and they continued through the weekend and into that Monday.
“I think the scariest part, and I think anybody that’s had it, is nobody really can give you any answers,” Fitzgerald said. “You learn new information every single day. You feel symptoms and you ask, and nobody really can tell you, ‘It’s gonna be better,’ or, ‘This is how long it would usually last.’
“I mean, there’s no real answer, so your mind kind of wonders and you’re sitting at home, and you’re watching TV and you see the cases and you see the deaths across the nation, and all these things are running through your mind and, obviously, you worry. But, fortunately, I was able to get through it and I feel much better.”
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He added: “You really kind of just reevaluate things, and it makes you really appreciate the health that you have and talking to your kids every day and to see their concern.”
Fitzgerald, who was activated from the list Tuesday, said he still has trouble tasting and smelling, and he lost 9 pounds during his quarantine. While at home, Fitzgerald said he revised his will and estate planning, along with other projects that he said he had been procrastinating on. He also read a lot.
“It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary,” Fitzgerald said. “I was productive with the time at the house. When you have that kind of time to literally do nothing and no obligations, you tend to try to fill it with things that you need to get done, so I guess I was as productive as you could be during that time.”
While he was getting things done around the house, Fitzgerald said he didn’t ponder his football future. He had a more pressing issue at hand.
“It was more so the immediate future, like, you know, staying alive and things of that nature,” Fitzgerald said. “Football, and how long I play football, didn’t really cross my mind.”
Fitzgerald said he was receiving 200 to 400 text messages and calls a day.
“So, those kind of things really puts put life in perspective, and you really appreciate the things that you do have in life,” he said.
Fitzgerald isn’t sure if or how much he’ll play against the New York Giants on Sunday, but he tried to stay in shape at home through running and “a lot” of Peloton workouts. But with almost a two-week break in the middle of a season, Fitzgerald returned to practice Wednesday feeling “the best I’ve ever felt,” as the break helped a few nagging injuries heal.
Watching football on TV while he was away also helped Fitzgerald see the game from a different perspective.
“When you’re playing in the game, you’re really concerned about what your job is and what you need to be doing and how you can be effective to help your team,” Fitzgerald said. “When you’re actually taking a step back, a bird’s-eye view, you see a lot more.
“… You do see things that you normally wouldn’t see when you’re playing, and actually it was pretty helpful to be able to observe from a distance.”
The match official accused of making a derogatory comment in a Champions League contest earlier this week insists he is not racist.
“I am just trying to be good,” Romanian referee Sebastian Coltescu said in an interview with Prosport, as translated by ESPN. “I will not read any news during these days.
“Anyone who knows me knows I’m not racist. At least, I hope that’s the case.”
UEFA launched an investigation a day after members of Istanbul Basaksehir accused Coltescu of racial abuse during the Turkish club’s originally scheduled match against Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday.
Coltescu was serving as the fourth official for the encounter and is said to have made the comment in his native language when he referred to assistant coach Pierre Webo as “the Black one over there,” according to Reuters.
The match was suspended after both teams walked off the pitch in protest and refused to finish the game. A new officiating crew took charge on Wednesday, with Neymar starring in the rescheduled contest by scoring a hat-trick in PSG’s 5-1 victory.
Before the game restarted from the 13th minute, players on both teams gathered at the center circle to display a message against racism.
Coltescu faces a possible 10-match suspension if he is found to have violated Article 14 of UEFA’s disciplinary regulations, according to Paul MacInnes of The Guardian. The punishment applies to referees, players, and anyone who “insults the human dignity of a person … on whatever grounds, including skin color, race, religion, ethnic origin, gender, or sexual orientation.”
