BEREA, Ohio (AP) — The Cleveland Browns have been sacked by the flu.
Coach Eric Mangini said 12 players, including Pro Bowl nose tackle Shaun Rogers and five other starters, are home with flulike symptoms and he plans to adjust his practice on Wednesday as the team prepares to face the Green Bay Packers this weekend.
Mangini is taking precautions to make sure his players get more rest and the team is taking extra measures to make sure others don't get sick.
He implied that the players had not yet been tested for H1N1 virus.
"We're trying at the first signs of any kind of illness to get the guys home and out of the building," Mangini said. "We're working as hard as we can to promote things to prevent the illness and impressing the importance of things like sleep. It's that time of year and unfortunately we have quite a few guys who are dealing with it. We'll adjust practice, we'll work around it and continue to move forward."
The Browns' sick players are: Rogers, running back Jerome Harrison, center Alex Mack, cornerback Anthony Madison, safety Brodney Pool, tight end Robert Royal, wide receiver Chansi Stuckey, linebacker Jason Trusnik, defensive end Brian Schaefering, fullback Lawrence Vickers, defensive end Corey Williams and linebacker Kamerion Wimbley.
The NFL has provisions for teams that are overwhelmed by swine flu. League spokesman Greg Aiello said all teams received a memo from commissioner Roger Goodell on Oct. 2.
It states: "If a club has at least six players unable to participate as the result of confirmed or suspected cases of swine flu, it can receive roster exemptions for those players and promote players from its own practice squad to replace them. A club can receive a max of 8 such exemptions. They must be medically confirmed cases of swine flu. This procedure does not apply to any other type of flu or illness. There is a deadline for promoting practice squad players pursuant to these procedures at four hours prior to kickoff."
Wimbley missed last Sunday's game in Pittsburgh and Rogers was sick during the game. The team tried to keep Wimbley isolated from the team and he was driven to the road game while the team took a bus. Wimbley, though, never got well enough to play and was sent home. Rogers was driven back to Ohio in a separate vehicle.
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