Due to continued COVID-19 concerns, the Baltimore Ravens-Pittsburgh Steelers football game has been moved to 3:40 p.m. ET Wednesday on NBC.
With the rescheduling, two other games have likewise been moved as the Steelers will host the Washington Football Team on Monday at 5 p.m. ET in the teams' Week 13 contest, which was originally slated for Sunday, while the Ravens will host the Dallas Cowboys on Tuesday, Dec. 8 at 8:05 p.m. ET on FOX/NFL Network/Amazon in a game that was first planned for Thursday. The Washington-Pittsburgh game's broadcast arrangement is to be announced at a later time.
This is the third time the Ravens-Steelers game -- originally scheduled for Thanksgiving night -- has been moved. Originally slated to be played on Thanksgiving night, it was postponed until Sunday and then moved a second time to Tuesday.
The league postponed the game for a third time to gain an extra day of COVID-19 testing results and to allow Ravens players time to train and avoid muscle strains, not because of who would or would not be available, NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reported.
Ravens players recently conducted a players-only meeting in which they expressed concerns regarding playing on Tuesday as they've been adamant about wanting a day to practice, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported. Rapoport added that other notes to come from the meeting were that the Ravens want to play, but health and safety must come first. One source said: “Can’t we have at least two days of negative tests after this outbreak before we are expected to get back on the field?"
The Ravens' facility reopened Monday night with the team conducting a walkthrough with another planned walkthrough Tuesday before flying to Pittsburgh, Pelissero reported. The Ravens later confirmed the news in a statement.
On Monday, the Ravens activated four players from the reserve/COVID-19 list, but also placed four players on the list.
Tight end Mark Andrews , outside linebacker Matt Judon and receiver Willie Snead were placed on the list Monday, along with cornerback Terrell Bonds, though Bonds was previously on season-ending injured reserve. While those four were added, outside linebacker Jaylon Ferguson, guard D.J. Fluker and defensive linemen Broderick Washington and Iman Marshall were activated off the list.
Since the Ravens' Week 11 game, 21 Ravens have been placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list and 19 are currently on it.
With the latest postponement, the Ravens will have running backs Mark Ingram and J.K. Dobbins eligible for Wednesday's game, per Pelissero and Rapoport, with their 10-day isolation periods following positive coronavirus tests over. However, quarterback Lamar Jackson will still be out.
The Week 12 match-up between AFC North rivals was first moved from the prime-time Thanksgiving slot to Sunday at 1:15 p.m. ET because of Baltimore's COVID-19 issues. With that situation still lingering, the NFL once more moved the game to a Tuesday slot, which was similar to a rescheduling for Buffalo-Tennessee in October because of a separate COVID-19 situation involving the Titans.