With training camp under a week away, the Jacksonville Jaguars are one of many teams waiting to have their Infectious Disease Emergency Response plan approved. This news comes courtesy of the NFLPA, who posted a list with the status of all 32 teams Wednesday.
So far, only eight teams have had their IDER plans approved. That leaves 24 teams awaiting their approval (including the Jags).
All 32 teams have submitted IDER plans–8 of them have been approved and the remaining plans are under review. pic.twitter.com/y8ej5VDZqH
— NFLPA (@NFLPA) July 22, 2020
The Jags have already begun the process of testing players as their rookies started reporting Monday. Some of those rookies even signed their rookie contracts in the process, including first-round pick K’Lavon Chaisson.
Of course, the NFL getting the plans of the other 24 teams approved is huge with COVID-19 being an issue around the nation. That is especially the case in the state of Florida as they have 379,619 confirmed cases, good for third in the nation. At the moment the state is also at 1,767 cases per 100,000 people and 5,345 total deaths.
It’s unknown when the Jags’ IDER plan will be approved, but one would think it will be soon with camp scheduled to start on Tuesday, July 28 with 20 other teams. Both the league and NFL have made progress on ironing out the return to football and most recently came to an agreement to have daily testing for two weeks and eliminate the entire 2020 preseason.
Still, there appears to be a lot of work left to be done as the players have been vocal and skeptical on the conditions they are set to return to.