Report: Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford tests positive for COVID-19

There are two ways for NFL players to end up on the league's COVID-19 reserve list — they either test positive for the virus or report they were knowingly exposed to someone else who did.

In the case of Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford, who landed on the list over the weekend, he tested positive for the virus, according to Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer. 

"The test was administered on Friday, and Stafford was asymptomatic beforehand," Breer wrote on Monday. "That means that Stafford passed tests on Tuesday and Wednesday, before the positive came up and landed him on the reserve list."

Because Stafford tested positive, he is unable to immediately enter the team's facility and join his teammate's for conditioning this week. He can either return 10 days after his last positive test or within five days if he tests negative twice. 

Earlier this offseason, Stafford emphasized the importance of taking extra precautions during the pandemic while his wife Kelly was pregnant with the couple's fourth child. 

"I think it's in everybody's interest to be as safe as you can possibly be, no matter if you've got a pregnant wife and kids at home or not," Stafford said in May. "Obviously, nobody really knows. There's not hard data on this yet, what it does to a pregnant woman, a baby or whatever it is. We're just trying to make sure we're doing everything we possibly can to limit our exposure and making sure we're at home, doing everything the experts are telling us to do, as much as we possibly can, while trying to stay sane and still have a little bit of fun here and there."

The couple welcomed their daughter, Tyler, in early summer.

Stafford is one of eight Lions players currently on the COVID-19 reserve list, along with teammates Kenny Golladay, T.J. Hockenson, Justin Coleman, Isaac Nauta, Amani Oruwariye, Arryn Sippos and Jalen Elliott.