NFL makes rare in-season rule change following awkward COVID-19 testing situation with Dez Bryant

One NFL rule will be undergoing a slight modification heading into Week 15

For the second time in five years, the NFL is changing one of its rules because of a situation involving Dez Bryant. Unlike the last time around, this rule change won't have anything to do with whether a catch was made, but it could help teams who are left short-handed due to COVID-19. 

Under terms of the new rule, which were shared by NFL.com and went into effect on Wednesday, if a team loses a player to COVID-19 after their inactive list has already been turned in, the team will be allowed to activate another player to replace the player who was lost. This rule might seem like common sense when you're trying to play during a pandemic, but as the Ravens found out in Week 13, the NFL clearly forgot to account for a situation like this when it modified or changed multiple roster rules before the season started. 

After the Ravens turned in their inactive list in Week 13, the team found out that Bryant wouldn't be allowed to play because he had an inconclusive test prior to the game. Since the NFL rules at the time didn't allow the Ravens to replace his spot on the roster, Baltimore went into the game with one less active player than the Cowboys. 

If this happens again, the Ravens would be allowed to replace Bryant's roster spot. On a normal game day, teams are required to send in their inactive list 90 minutes before kickoff, which means a team will only get to take advantage of this rule if a player is ruled out due to a positive test or for being a high-risk close contact after the inactive list has been turned it. At that point, the team will have until 30 minutes before kickoff to replace their newly inactive player. 

To replace the player, teams could promote a player from their practice squad to the active roster. Each team's practice squad was expanded from 12 to 16 players this season so that teams wouldn't be left short-handed if they got hit by an outbreak. 

Although the NFL has made multiple rule changes this year, the league rarely makes any rule changes during the season that might impact game day protocols. 

As for Bryant, he ended up spending five days on the COVID-19 list before being activated on Tuesday.