NFL teams will have to wait a little longer to get back into their facilities as the league announced that it is extending the “virtual” offseason until the end of May.
NFL informed teams today that its virtual offseason now will be extended through end of May, per source. Initially, the virtual offseason went through May 15th, now through end of May.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 13, 2020
For teams such as the New York Giants, who have gone through a coaching change as well as brought in a slew of new players, that puts them at a disadvantage. Not only has the team not physically met under the same roof yet, the team has no feel yet as to how the many changes will affect their fortunes.
The extension comes as no surprise and the league has to make decisions with the areas where the coronavirus is most prevalent — New York and New Jersey. On May 6, New Jersey governor Phil Murphy extended the public health emergency 30 days, which pushes any type of loosening of restrictions on public gatherings until early June.
The NFL asked all 32 teams to submit their business resumption plans by May 15, in which Phase 1 could possibly begin.
Phase 1 would “allow for up to 50% of a team’s non-player employees to occupy the facility on any given day, up to a maximum of 75. No players would be permitted in the building, unless resuming a course of rehabilitation that was already underway when facilities were first closed. That phase could begin as soon as Friday, May 15th. After that, the league will weigh its options for Phase 2, though teams are encouraged to refine their own policies in accordance with local law and fluctuating conditions.”
The Giants, along with other teams in highly-affected areas in the country, are also considering moving to a safer location to conduct their offseason but head coach Joe Judge said that is not optimal.
“The first part, we definitely have a plan. We’re assuming right now that we’re going to continue working virtually with the players,” Judge said this week. “We’ll wait for further clarity from the league. We were told to plan through May 18, so that’s what we’re doing right now. In terms of relocating, our Ops department is doing a great job right now mapping out a lot of different scenarios in terms of if for some reason we have to relocate, they’re making connections around the area, around the country, as to whatever we may need to do.
“We’re waiting on direction from the league in terms of when we’ll make decisions on that. Hopefully in a perfect world, we’re all back together in New Jersey training sooner than later. But we’re planning for a lot of hypotheticals to make sure if they come up, we’re not caught by surprise.”
Health experts are wary that a return to normalcy will lead to a resurgence of the virus and Judge said the Giants are considering every option and the logistics needed to resume operations in a safety and secure manner.
“I think right now with the climate of the country, one thing we have to consider is, first off, the safety of our players traveling across the country. Getting on flights, traveling through cars. There is a lot of mandated quarantines that come with that as well, so the timeliness factor of getting players, having them travel, the amount of time they’re quarantined, getting them in the building, can we secure that they’re going to be quarantined along with all of the staff and coaches that are surrounding them, whether that’s in our facility or somewhere else?” Judge said.
“There are a lot of logistical things we have to consider. The first thing we talked about in all of these conversations is are we 100 percent certain the players are going to remain healthy and we’re not putting anybody at risk. I have a tough time right now asking a player to fly across the country from California when I probably wouldn’t be the first one most willing to throw my two sons on a plane to go the other way. We talk about this, we have to consider the big picture of what’s going on.
“Look, I would love to have them in Jersey right now. I would love for us to have setup remote camp if that’s what was necessary. But getting them to the campus and making sure that while we’re there they’re not exposed to anything, we have to consider that as well.”
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