The Patriots canceled Friday’s practice amid reports that "another person has tested positive for coronavirus" and that "it is a player." The team also is "awaiting the results of a second test to confirm if an additional person has also tested positive."Thursday marked the Patriots' return to practice after "holding virtual team meetings since Saturday." The Patriots are scheduled to play the Broncos on Sunday at Gillette Stadium, in a matchup that already "was moved from Week 5 to Week 6" due to a previous positive test with the Patriots (BOSTON GLOBE, 10/16). 

If it is "not played Sunday, Broncos-Patriots game will now be most difficult scheduling fix for NFL thus far" (TWITTER.com, 10/16).

The Colts will "re-open the practice facility" this afternoon after four members who previously tested positive for coronavirus returned negative tests Friday morning. Upon learning of the positive tests early Friday, the Colts "initially shut down the facility and moved all meetings and work online, conducting everything virtually as the samples were re-tested." False positives have been an "intermittent, if somewhat rare, issue for the NFL and BioReference Laboratories, the company contracted to handle all of the league’s testing, this season" (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 10/16).

Suspended driver Kyle Larson has applied for reinstatement to NASCAR, and while the sanctioning body did not confirm it Friday, the request is expected to be approved in the coming weeks, sources say. NASCAR on Friday afternoon confirmed that Larson applied for reinstatement earlier in the week; The Athletic and Fox Sports were first to report the application. NASCAR on Friday said that it is still reviewing the request for reinstatement, but sources toldTHE DAILYthat there are not expected to be any issues at this point and that it will be approved in short order after he served around a 30-race suspension. Larson in recent weeks has been linked to Hendrick Motorsports, though the team has not addressed the rumors (Adam Stern, THE DAILY).

Larson appeared on “CBS This Morning” to discuss the fallout from his using a racial epithet during a virtual NASCAR event, with CBS’ James Brown noting Larson’s "world quickly unraveled,” as he was “fired from his racing team, lost his sponsors and suspended indefinitely from NASCAR.” Larson said if he were to be barred from ever competing in NASCAR again, “I don't think it would be too steep of a price to pay. What I said was extremely hurtful, and I would fully understand if I was never allowed to race another NASCAR race again. But I hope I will get that opportunity. ... With that platform, I think I could do some good things” ( “CBS This Morning,” 10/16).

The Saints today confirmed that Owner Gayle Benson "was the target of what police have classified as an attempted auto theft" last Saturday. Benson was "seated in her car" in the Uptown area of New Orleans last weekend when a "man barged in and apparently tried to steal the vehicle." The man "abandoned his plan when Benson screamed at him to get out, and investigators are now searching for a suspect." The Saints said while Benson was "very shaken at the time, she was unharmed and is doing fine" (NOLA.com, 10/16).

A federal grand jury in Texas has indicted former Angels employee Eric Kay on "two counts in the overdose death of pitcher Tyler Skaggs." The indictment charges Kay with "distributing the fentanyl that resulted in Skaggs’ death" in July last year. It also "alleges Kay and unspecified 'others' conspired to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl 'beginning in or before 2017.'" Kay, who "worked in the Angels’ media relations department for 24 years,"was arrested in August (L.A. TIMES, 10/16).

MLB and the MLBPA jointly announced the latest COVID-19 testing results, with 0 new positives among the 5,026 samples this round. Among MLB players, there have now been no new positives for 47 consecutive days (MLB).

ESPN+ has acquired the U.S. media rights in both English and Spanish to the Scottish Premiership, the top professional soccer league in Scotland. As part of the agreement, ESPN+ will carry at least one Scottish Premiership match per week, beginning Saturday (ESPN).

Sacramento Republic FC is looking for Latinx-owned businesses in its region for three "grants of up to $5,000, and smaller grants of $2,500 and $1,000 through the Republic Kickstart grant program" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 10/16).

New renderings are out for the ongoing $100M renovation at Birmingham's Legacy Arena. This comes after the city was named a host of NCAA men's and women's basketball tournament events in '23 and '25. Populous is the "lead architecture firm" on the project (BIZJOURNALS.com, 10/16).

"Y’all know I can’t speak on certain things, but thank you guys for coming" -- Kevin Garnett, while visiting Minneapolis, when asked about his previously disclosed interest in being part of a new T'Wolves ownership group (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 10/16).

"We don’t have the impact that football is having on those from a financial standpoint. But we’re also not out of the woods, either" -- Butler AD Barry Collier, on the financial strain the pandemic is causing on the school (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 10/16).

"I heard him hum a couple of times in the shower, but everybody sounds great in the shower” -- ESPN’s Bart Scott, on former Jets teammate and current ESPN analyst Mark Sanchez appearing on Fox’ “The Masked Singer” ( “Get Up,” ESPN, 10/16).

Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban in his latest appearance on ABC's "The View" continued his public criticisms of President Trump this election season.

40 -- The amount of times that play-by-play man Brian Anderson estimates he has been tested for COVID-19. Anderson "spent 51 days in the NBA 'bubble' in Orlando, working a total of 24 games." Prior to that, he was calling Brewers games for FS Wisconsin. Anderson is currently calling the Astros-Rays ALCS series on Fox (Milwaukee JOURNAL-SENTINEL, 10/16).