Detroit Lions place Jared Goff on the reserve/COVID-19 list

Coming off Sunday’s big win over the Arizona Cardinals, the Detroit Lions have placed quarterback Jared Goff on the COVID-19 list.

The Detroit Lions are on a high after Sunday’s shocking and dominant 30-12 win over the Arizona Cardinals. But among Monday’s list of roster moves came some unfortunate news, as quarterback Jared Goff has landed on the reserve/COVID-19 list along with offensive tackle Matt Nelson.

Goff went to 8-1 in his career against the Cardinals with an efficient outing on Sunday (21-for-26 for 216 yards, three touchdowns, 139.7 passer rating). He has been playing very well in general lately, with multiple passing touchdowns in three of the last four games.

The Lions have been hit hard by injuries, illness and COVID. The good news is running back Jamaal Williams has been taken off the COVID-19 reserve list, so he should be able to play Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons after missing the last two games.

Will Jared Goff miss Sunday’s game against the Falcons?

The NFL has changed its COVID-19 protocols, which I won’t dive deeply into here. But Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press has a very early answer regarding Goff’s status for the Week 16 game against the Falcons.

The bottom line is Goff can come off the COVID-19 list as quickly as Tuesday. Absent that he will have multiple chances to be cleared to come off the list, rooted in being asymptomatic and/or as Birkett pointed to having a certain (presumably low) “viral load”.

So it’s not yet time to panic that Goff will be unavailable for Sunday’s game. That’s pretty amazing to say, based on the majority of the season where the overriding sentiment has been determining when he can be replaced. But we’ve also seen what the Lions’ backup quarterbacks have to offer, or don’t have to offer, while Goff has been playing well since coming back from his oblique injury.