A day after completely shutting down their practice facilities following multiple positive COVID-19 tests within the organization, the Atlanta Falcons have returned to work. Additional COVID testing on Thursday revealed no new positive cases, per NFL Network's Tom Pelissero, so Falcons players, coaches and personnel are fully returning to their Flowery Branch headquarters, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. Not only that, but this means Atlanta's Week 6 game against the Minnesota Vikings is set to proceed as scheduled.
When the Falcons sent all staff home earlier this week, speculation arose that the team's Sunday matchup with Minnesota could be delayed. The NFL, after all, has already shuffled games for nearly a dozen different teams through five weeks of the regular season, all because of various COVID-19 outbreaks. Atlanta was reportedly just being especially cautious by closing its facilities, however, following in the footsteps of the New York Jets -- who briefly shuttered their complex before playing as scheduled in Week 5.
Atlanta's return to work comes the same day the Indianapolis Colts closed their own facilities as a result of multiple positive COVID tests in the building. As of now, according to Pelissero, Indy's game against the Cincinnati Bengals also remains on the schedule.
