Speaking before Monday’s practice, Texans head coach David Culley said his team only has four or five players who haven’t been vaccinated.
That would put the Texans, who have to trim their roster to 80 players by 3 p.m. Tuesday, slightly above the league-wide’s reported 91.7 percent vaccination rate, which was the figure given by the NFL Network’s Judy Battista two weeks ago.
The Atlanta Falcons were the first team to have every player vaccinated, and 14 other teams in the league had more than 95 percent vaccination, according to Battista.
A player is considered fully vaccinated two weeks after getting their final shot.
“I believe we only have four or five guys that have not done it yet, and between now and whenever, they could do it,” Culley said. “Obviously, there’s a waiting period to do that, but we feel good about it.”
Texans starting left tackle Laremy Tunsil hasn’t played in the preseason since testing positive for COVID-19 before the preseason opener.
The Texans open the regular season against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sept. 12.
Although the NFL doesn’t have a mandatory vaccination policy, they have adopted strict rules for players who choose not to get the shot. If a game is canceled due to an outbreak among unvaccinated players, neither team’s players will be paid that week. There also are relaxed rules for vaccinated players, including the ability to forego frequent testing and stricter contact tracing quarantines.
Under the new NFL policy, unvaccinated players who test positive for COVID-19 will require a 10-day isolation. Vaccinated players who test positive and are asymptomatic can return after two negative tests 24 hours apart.
Those rules irritated several players around the league, including former Texans star DeAndre Hopkins who questioned his future in the league.
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