The 2020 NFL offseason has been like no other, as teams continue to meet virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kansas City Chiefs RT Mitchell Schwartz and his teammates would typically be hitting the field in OTA non-padded practices around this time of year. This prompted some questions about how the All-Pro offensive lineman is handling the virtual offseason program. During Friday’s media availability, Schwartz was asked if he thought that he was getting everything that he need out of virtual team meetings.
“I think for me, or guys like me, you get most of it,” Schwartz said. “Right now, I guess we’d be into our true OTA practices, and so you’d be on the field, doing football movements, a lot of change of direction. I think that’s kind of the worry. When we work out at home, it gets kind of boring after a while. You kind of do your running, get it over with. You don’t necessarily do all the change of direction and movement stuff, so making sure you’re staying up on that is huge.”
Schwartz has the awareness and discipline to keep up on the change of direction and movement work that is necessary, but it’s still not quite the same as being out there at practice. Beyond the physical side of things, the virtual offseason program has taken a mental toll too. Andy Reid is known for having one of the most advanced offensive schemes in the NFL. Schwartz believes that for some players, it’s going to be difficult for them to learn until they get on the field.
“In terms of the mental side, like you said, Coach Reid, it’s his offense, so there’s always tweaks and new stuff,” Schwartz said. “The hard part there is not being able to walk through it and practice through it. Guys learn in a lot of different ways. Some guys watch film or look at the install and kind of get the grasp of it, but it usually takes a few times moving through it, seeing how it fits, seeing how your body reacts to the play. And that’s the thing that you’re missing that’s not really replaceable in terms of working out on your own at home.”
While you can’t replace that work right now, the hope is that Chiefs players will be able to catch up on install once they’re allowed to return to team facilities.
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