Philadelphia Eagles head coach Doug Pederson tested positive for COVID-19, the club announced Sunday. The team says Pederson is asymptomatic, doing well and in quarantine at home.
Pederson, 52, is the second NFL head coach to go public with a coronavirus diagnosis. Saints head coach Sean Payton tested positive back in March. He has since recovered and will be with the club as training camp begins in earnest this week.
Obviously, that was March and this is August. The Eagles' handling of Pederson's in-seaosn diagnosis -- including the possible quarantine of any players, coaches or staff who came in contact with him -- will be instructive for the rest of the NFL and college football.
In the meantime, Pederson will be involved as much as he can virtually while assistant head coach/running backs coach Duce Staley will take over head coaching duties in Pederson's absence. A third-round pick of the Eagles back in 1997, Staley racked up 4,087 yards as a Birds running back from '97-'03, then returned to Philly as a coaching intern in 2010. He was promoted to running backs coach in 2013 and to assistant head coach in 2018.
The Super Bowl-winning Pederson is 42-28 as the head coach of the Birds. Here's wishing for a full and speedy recovery.