The news broke yesterday that the NFL is set to cut the 2020 preseason schedule in half — the latest measure deemed necessary for the league to build in an appropriate amount of preparation time for teams as the NFL looks to make up for lost time this summer. The coronavirus outbreak slowed American sports to a screeching halt over the last few months — but now we’re seeing some momentum for the return of professional sports. For the NFL, that means training camp will open as scheduled (for now) on July 28th for most teams. And now, with the amended preseason schedule, teams will have additional time to brace for the start of competitive games.
For the Dolphins specifically, there will also be some rearranging of the schedule that exists. According to Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald, each NFL team will have one home game and one away game over the two-week preseason.
I’m told teams will get one home and one away game in reshuffling of preseason. More specifics tomorrow.
— Armando Salguero (@ArmandoSalguero) July 1, 2020
Miami’s original preseason slate called for two home games over those two weeks:
- 8/20/2020 — vs. Philadelphia Eagles (7:30 PM EST)
- 8/27/2020 — vs. Detroit Lions (7:30 PM EST)
So with the preseason in flux, we may see the NFL opt to flip a game’s destination or they may opt to just reconfigure the preseason all together. The schedule is likely to continue to evolve for the NFL — but the primary concerns for the league are rooted in ensuring their policies and testing procedures are given as much time to be ironed out as possible and also to allow the players a proper runway into the season; given that the teams are currently so far behind, extra time in camp to get into playing shape is a valuable asset to protect the players from excessive wear and tear or injuries once the action goes live.
Stay tuned for more on the Dolphins’ evolving preseason schedule — there’s certain to be more shakeups ahead.