The NFL is adding additional groundwork to their efforts to create a stable working environment — one capable of absorbing the strain of the current outbreak of coronavirus in the United States. That is no easy feat, but a new memo put out to the league is outlining more distinct guidelines put forth by the league as training camp rapidly approaches.
The latest, as outlined by ESPN’s Adam Schefter, highlights the NFL’s introduction of tiers of access in each building. The proposed tiers are as follows:
• Tier 1: trainers, physicians, players, coaches and other personnel who must have direct access to players.
• Tier 2: security, video personnel, general managers, football operations employees, other assistant coaches and other essential personnel who will come into close contact with players and other Tier 1 employees.
• Tier 3: non-essential employees such as broadcast, in-house media, transportation and others.
The objective for the league is section off employees who will and won’t need to come into close contact with the players and ensure that the team facilities are appropriately restricted as well. By sectioning off certain areas of the facility, the hope is that less potential cross-contamination will be experienced in the event of an infection. The league seems to be tapping into the hard knock lessons learned in other team facilities in other sports, such as college football and baseball — both of which saw their workouts postponed as a slew of employees tested positive for coronavirus.
This is no small feat ahead of training camp — and each and every team is going to have to get it right. Both the NFL and the NFL Player’s Association, according to Schefter, have left the door open for surprise inspections to ensure protocols are being enforced and administered appropriately to protect the players. Camp is currently due to open for most teams in just over a month’s time.