L.A. Rams center Brian Allen says things got so bad after he tested positive for COVID-19 ... he lost all sense of smell, and had NO REACTION whatsoever to even powerful smelling salts.
"I cracked them open, put them to my nose and nothing happened," Allen said. "All I could feel was texture in my mouth -- literally, it was the only sense I had."
Allen -- who became the first NFL player to go public with his positive coronavirus test -- told Fox Sports' Jay Glazer on Wednesday, things got even worse in his battle with COVID from there.
Breaking news from @JayGlazer: Los Angeles Rams C Brian Allen is first NFL player to test positive for Covid-19. pic.twitter.com/pkGeD2GHJ2
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) April 16, 2020
"Then I got periodic sore throats," 24-year-old Allen said. "I got really fatigued, my throat would start burning, everything felt different than every other flu I've had."
Allen says he was initially diagnosed with the virus roughly a month ago ... and after battling headaches and severe malaise, he's reportedly on the mend now.
In fact, L.A. head coach Sean McVay told Glazer he spoke with the former 4th-round pick this week and says he's "feeling good, he's healthy and he's on the road to recovery."
Because of Allen's positive test ... the Rams were forced to shut down their team facility for two weeks -- but McVay praised his player for handling everything about the virus properly.
"He did a great job of letting us know right away," McVay said, "so we could be timely in our response in making sure we didn't expose anybody else to that."