Jets’ Duvernay-Tardif playing again after fighting pandemic

By DENNIS WASZAK Jr.
AP Pro Football Writer

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — Laurent Duvernay-Tardif was far from a football field at this time last year when shoulder pads and playbooks gave way to scrubs and medical charts. The big New York Jets offensive lineman with a doctorate in medicine was on the front lines helping fight against a pandemic that gripped the world and putting his playing career on hold. Duvernay-Tardif was coming off having won a Super Bowl with the Kansas City Chiefs in his sixth year in the NFL when he began working as an orderly at a long-term care facility. He’s back playing football now and starting for the Jets.