Having COVID-19 was a ‘big surprise’ for Panther Chris Reed. He beat it, and now starts
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From Aug. 30 to Sept. 5, there was one confirmed positive COVID-19 test among 2,641 NFL players tested.
That one player, out of the many tested daily by the NFL and NFLPA, was Panthers offensive lineman Chris Reed.
When the Panthers host the Cardinals on Sunday at Bank of America Stadium, Reed will be starting at left guard, making his second consecutive start after a rollercoaster September that started with him being placed on the league’s reserve/COVID-19 list on the first of the month and concluded with him starting in the team’s first win of the season in Los Angeles.
Just weeks ago he was unsure if he would make the roster. He had been praised publicly by the coaching staff, but testing positive for COVID-19 forced him to miss the critical final week of camp.
But he did enough to make an impression, and after spending over three weeks on the COVID-19 list, he earned the opportunity to be a starter.
“At some point during this COVID thing, I didn’t know if I’d even be able to play football this year,” Reed said. “That was kind of the scary part because it was so uncertain, so I’m just glad everything’s cleared up and I get to play football again.”
Reed and his wife, Anna, are based in Jacksonville during the offseason and were staying safe in the months prior to him having to report to Charlotte. But then, with camp almost over, Reed tested positive Aug. 31.
“I felt fine,” Reed said. “I had practiced and then tested positive and, basically, it was a big surprise, because I felt normal for about, like one or two days after.”
The Panthers had gone the first month of training camp without having a single player test positive or be placed on the reserve/COVID-19, which is also for players who are in close contact with someone who tests positive. Teams are not allowed to disclose why a player was placed on the list.
Then, on Aug. 30 defensive back Derrek Thomas, who is no longer with the team, was placed on the list. Reed followed. Practice squad defensive back Natrell Jamerson was put on the list just over a week after him.
Reed calls getting COVID-19, “bad luck.” And when he did test positive, he couldn’t go back to his house and quarantine there. Anna is pregnant with their daughter who is due in January. The team had him stay in a hotel near the stadium, but there were plenty of emotions involved in not being able to stay with his wife, who’s tests for COVID-19 came up negative.
“The moment that kind of gets me is when I found out I reconfirmed it positive, I had to go back and get stuff to go to the hotel and she’s standing in the back of the house and I can’t like hug her, can’t do anything like that,” Reed said. “That was probably the hardest part for me is not being able to comfort her, because I know both of us were stressed out at the time and we just didn’t know what was gonna happen.”
Reed is in his sixth year in the NFL. The Panthers claimed him off waivers from the Dolphins in December 2019. Originally signed by the Jaguars as an undrafted free agent out of Minnesota State, Reed spent the beginning of his career in Jacksonville and also spent time with the Dolphins. He has played in 34 games and started 10.
He had a good chance to make the Panthers roster this year, but it wasn’t certain. And a starting spot definitely was not guaranteed. But with testing positive, Reed was forced to miss the last week of training camp practices, which were vital this year.
“With this year being as it is, camp is everything, you don’t have OTAs, you don’t have preseason games. Getting it I felt like, really hurt my chances.” Reed said. “Luckily, I feel like I had one of my best camps in my career. That helped me and my eagerness to get better, and my eagerness to get back to football really, really helped me as well I feel like.”
Reed quarantined for a total of 10 days. He estimates that eight of those he experienced symptoms, starting with just feeling “kind of crappy” and escalating to cold-like symptoms and then to fatigue and shortness of breath.
He kept busy during his time in his hotel room, making sure to stick to a routine and even eating at the same time the rest of the Panthers players did, so when he could return he would be on the same schedule.
“I started watching film for the first game just to keep myself occupied,” Reed said. “The main thing was, I tried to create a routine, so like I get up every morning I’d shower, I’d stretch, stretching was the only thing I could do, like, roll out with a foam ball. I would do football stuff (virtual meetings) if we had anything and then I talked to my wife for at least probably an hour and a half, two hours a day. And then the rest of it was kind of on my own.”
His personal time included playing PlayStation, reading up on babies (a different kind of preparation) and watching TV.
Once he was out of quarantine, he still had other issues to deal with.
“Afterwards I had some inflammation in my heart. ... And then it cleared up within a week or so,” Reed said. “I just basically had to just wait till it cleared up, but we got back in a week later and it was fine and they eased me back in physically, because (I was) sitting down and not doing anything for three weeks. (That) has impacts on your cardio system, but also soft tissue and stuff that hasn’t been working for a while, you don’t want to work in too fast, otherwise you can pull a muscle, you could do a lot of different things.”
The Panthers eased him back in to working out once his heart issues resolved (there have been connections between COVID-19 and cardiac issues established recently) and he was activated Sept. 23.
Physically recovering wasn’t the only thing Reed had to deal with over the three-week period he was on the list. He admits that it was “hard” mentally and that he did go through some difficult times, especially with the unknowns related to his roster security, but that his wife’s support was a huge assist.
Self-described as an “over-thinker” at times, Reed is trying now to just enjoy being back on the field.
“What happened (with football) being taken away, it’s just kind of like, why worry when this won’t last forever? Like just play it the way it’s been played,” Reed said.
Rhule publicly pronounced him as the team’s starting left guard Friday afternoon, and Reed is focused on enjoying his part in this Panthers offense and each game he’s able to be out on the field.
“We always talk about trying to appreciate it while you’re doing it and all this stuff and I really had this pure, true appreciation and love when I came back to the game,” Reed said. “When I went out on Sunday, I just wanted to play and just like let it go. And I think that’s kind of the goal from now on, is to just play football for the love of the game and for my teammates.”
This story was originally published October 4, 2020 at 6:00 AM.
