Jon Gruden Had the Raiders Believe That He Was in the Hospital With COVID-19

The Las Vegas Raiders were told this week during a virtual meeting that head coach Jon Gruden had tested positive for COVID-19 and was in the hospital.  None of it was true.

Gruden hasn't tested positive for COVID-19 and he wasn't hospitalized.  It was all an exercise to teach the team to be prepared for anything this season as they navigate the season during a pandemic.

That's their story anyway...

From NFL.com:

NFL Network's Mike Garafolo reported Wednesday on Inside Training Camp Live that players logged into a virtual meeting expecting to be greeted by head coach Jon Gruden only to see assistant head coach/special teams coordinator Rick Bisaccia instead. Bisaccia then informed the team that Gruden had tested positive for COVID-19 and currently was in the hospital.

Only Gruden had not tested positive and was not in the hospital.

"It wasn't a joke," Garafolo explained. "What it was was the team illustrating to the players that this could happen at any moment to anybody."

Garafolo added: "So, the point to the players was you've got to stay ready. Everybody has got to stay ready because this virus that Gruden himself said they want to crush could pop up and it doesn't discriminate. So this is something we could face some point in the season whether it's our head coach, our starting quarterback, whatever."

Ahhh...  The old fake being hospitalized with a deadly virus trick.  Who thought this way a good idea?  Obviously Gruden was all in, but maybe someone should be there helping him iron out his ideas.

That or loosen the visor a little...