Calais Campbell on former teammate's COVID-19 bout: ‘It’s scary’ originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
Jaguars running back Ryquell Armstead is reportedly still battling COVID-19, and has been hospitalized twice due to complications he’s suffered in relation to the virus.
He was once considered a running back that could take significant reps after the release of Leonard Fournette. Instead, he’s been in the hospital and on the reserve/COVID-19 list twice this season and now is expected to miss the remainder of the season.
Armstead, 23, is a former teammate of Ravens defensive lineman Calais Campbell, which has made the issue hit close to home for the Ravens’ most veteran lineman.
“We all knew that was a possibility, statistically speaking,” Campbell said. “It's scary. It definitely puts things into perspective. I talked to him because we're pretty good friends too just through text and stuff, and it sounded like he's in pretty good spirits and he felt pretty good where he's at right now that definitely helped me out a lot because I was worried about him.”
Campbell is a member of the NFL Players Associations’ executive committee and has been working part of meetings throughout the last few months to discuss how to deal with the coronavirus in the NFL.
He said he considered opting out of the season, but felt the risks were as mitigated as they could be in an NFL building.
“You hear the reports but, man, this is a serious thing we're dealing with,” he continued. “We’re going through the process and having protocols to try to be as safe as possible, but it really is scary that it can hurt you real serious you don't know how many people and when I try my hardest not to catch and and so many guys around the NFL have.”
The Ravens have yet to have a player test positive for COVID-19 during the season, but have had a scare with Derek Wolfe and placed Brandon Williams on the COVID-19 list due to close exposure.
Campbell, 34, is concerned about his friend in Jacksonville, he’s also using this as a reminder to keep safe.
“For it to be severe and harmful to one person is too many, but you just got to go through the process but I just try to follow the protocols and try to be as safe as possible,” Campbell said.
