The COVID-19 pandemic has forced most sports to a halt. The NBA and NHL seasons are currently on hold, while MLB is going through negotiations with players in an effort to get back on the field as soon as July.
The NFL, meanwhile, has completed free agency and the draft in preparation for the 2020 season. Now, with offseason meetings shifting to a virtual platform, questions are being asked about whether or not the season can start on time and if fans will be able to attend games.
One person who is eager to return to the gridiron is Jets quarterback Sam Darnold. Whenever teams get the green light from the league to begin practicing, New York’s third-year signal caller is confident that the proper precautions will be put in place to prevent players from contracting coronavirus.
“I think whatever the guidelines are, whenever they determine that it’s safe for us to go back to practice, be in the facilities and play games against our opponents, I think they’re gonna do their due diligence there and make sure that we’re safe coming back,” Darnold said on “The Michael Kay Show” on Monday. “As long as we’re allowed to be in the facility and be practicing and be playing games, I’m not gonna be worried about it.”
Although practices and games could begin sooner rather than later, there is a real possibility that fans will not be in attendance as a precaution. Darnold has spent time thinking about what it would be like playing without fans and is well aware of the oddities it would present for teams on game days. At the end of the day, though, Darnold acknowledged that it is something everyone is going to have to get used to if fans are not allowed in stadiums for the foreseeable future.
“They’re part of what makes this sport. The fans are really what makes sports great in general, just the atmosphere that they create in the stadiums,” Darnold said. “Besides that, I think not having fans there, being able to hear the defensive calls, obviously the defense being able to hear my calls pretty loud and clear, it’ll be different, to say the least. If that’s the case, there might be a little adjustment period, but everyone’s just gonna have to adapt and get used to it.”