Amid the coronavirus pandemic, there’s a lot of uncertainty still surrounding the start of the 2020 NFL season, particularly when it comes to the preseason. After the NFL had decided to cut the preseason in half to just two games, now there are reports that the NFLPA has voted to skip the preseason entirely.
According to Dan Graziano, representatives for every NFL team unanimously agreed that there should be no preseason games played. Whether the NFL will force players to play those two scheduled preseason games or eliminate the preseason entirely remains to be seen.
On Thursday night’s NFLPA call, the union’s board of reps voted unanimously to recommend that the NFL play no preseason games this year. It’s unclear whether the league, which has already decided to cut the preseason from four games to two, will consider the recommendation.
— Dan Graziano (@DanGrazianoESPN) July 3, 2020
As for possible solutions, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero laid out a plan where the NFL would go right from training camp into the regular season. The NFLPA’s alternative training camp schedule includes designated days for medical and equipment, strength and conditioning, unpadded practices and padded practices. This would fill in the two-week gap left by those scheduled preseason games.
With the NFLPA still opposed to preseason games, one possible camp schedule the union has discussed:
3 days: medical/equipment
21 days: strength & conditioning
10 days: unpadded practice
14 days: practice (10 max/8 padded)Then it’d be straight into Week 1.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) July 3, 2020
The NFLPA’s proposed plan has a scenario where group workouts would initially be smaller — roughly 15 per and a maximum of 40 in unpadded practices — and then using August as a month to get players together in a high-exposure setting, per Pelissero.
Obviously the absence of a preseason would impact the Bears greatly with the quarterback competition between Mitchell Trubisky and Nick Foles, which was slated to begin in training camp later this month and last through preseason.
While training camp reps will be important — as practicing against Chicago’s vaunted defense will surely be a test of which QB is best suited for the starting job — there’s no substitute for live-game reps that would be lost if the NFL agrees to eliminate the preseason entirely.
In a shortened offseason, which figures to have a smaller sample size, Trubisky has the clear advantage over Foles. Trubisky has been playing in Nagy’s offense for two seasons and he’s built relationships with most of these skill position players, even some of the newcomers. Trubisky has been organizing offseason workouts, where he’s gotten a chance to work with new tight ends Cole Kmet and Demetrius Harris, as well as receiver Allen Robinson and running backs David Montgomery and Tarik Cohen.
Still, it comes down to on-field performance — be it solely on the practice field of Halas Hall or a combination of that and preseason. Last year, Trubisky caught a lot of flack for some rough workouts against this Bears defense at training camp. And training camp practices against one of the league’s best defenses certainly won’t be a walk in the park for either quarterback.
Ultimately, playing those two preseason games — and getting those live-game reps — is what would be best for the Bears in the end. But if that’s not what happens, Nagy will have to adjust, just like he’s had to do all offseason.
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