The NFL announced this week that there will be no minicamps for any team. Based on what’s happening with college athletes returning to group workouts and activities, it’s probably a wise decision by the NFL.
The Universit of Houston and Iowa State University have both had resurgence of COVID-19 diagnoses since ramping up their athletic workouts. Houston quickly suspended all voluntary activities for all sports, which were the only current events going on.
It’s a warning against the desire to return to normalcy for the NFL and the other pro sports leagues. Despite the precautions being taken, athletes are still getting new positive diagnoses for COVID-19. It’s important to note there is no reporting on the severity of the cases, but the fact that new cases are directly tied to athletes grouping together and participating in workouts is a harbinger that the NFL is right to take seriously.
Michigan is gradually reopening to business as normal. Michiganders will be able to get haircuts again starting this week. Many high school football programs have kicked off conditioning, with a careful nod to social distancing and disinfection of equipment. But the Lions will not reconvene in Allen Park en masse anytime soon.
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There are still several weeks before training camp kicks off. If more coronavirus situations like what has happened with Houston and Iowa State crop up, it will be a tougher sell for more restrictive states like Michigan to allow a full training camp with actual physical contact. And based on the NFL’s edict that all teams must have the same local authorizations before all can advance to the next portion of the offseason, what’s happening with the colleges could be a real problem for the NFL.