TAMPA, Fla. — Two days after Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel tested positive for COVID-19, Tampa Bay Buccaneers kicker Ryan Succop has also tested positive for the virus and will miss Saturday’s third preseason game against the Houston Texans, coach Bruce Arians said Tuesday.
The Titans took part in joint practices at the Buccaneers’ facility Wednesday and Thursday and played Saturday night. Vrabel tested positive Sunday morning.
“All contacts [with Vrabel] were outside. We had one that went to dinner with some guys that did test positive today,” Arians said. “He went to dinner with some Titan friends. That was Ryan Succop. So he’s out for this game.”
When asked if there were any other close contacts that would need to be monitored, Arians replied, “No.”
Succop is fully vaccinated.
According to NFL protocols, players, coaches and other personnel who are identified as close contacts and are vaccinated are required to take three consecutive days of MESA tests, but are not required to isolate. That three-day window was Sunday-Tuesday, a team source told ESPN.
Should Succop have been unvaccinated, he likely would have been deemed a “high-risk close contact” and would have been required to isolate at home for five days, plus five days of monitoring, along with daily testing.
Last season, Succop made 90.3% of his field goals — the second-best mark in Buccaneers history — and went 9-for-9 on field goals during the postseason, with one missed extra point. The Bucs re-signed him this offseason to a three-year contract worth $12 million, with $6.25 million guaranteed.
Arians was counting on playing his starters extensively this week. Succop will be replaced by Jose Borregales, an undrafted free agent out of the University of Miami who has put together a strong camp but has yet to kick in a preseason game.