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The novel coronavirus pandemic has hit the 2020 NFL schedule hard, canceling team workouts over the summer as well as this year’s Hall of Fame Game. These changes have also impacted the New Orleans Saints, who will be unable to hold joint practice sessions with their preseason opponents — a move they’ve favored in recent years, using the opportunity to work against other NFL talents after weeks of grueling training camp practices.
However, the latest update has the Saints seeing even less action against other teams. Pro Football Talk and ESPN reported that the NFL plans to cancel Weeks 1 and 4 of its preseason series, limiting all teams to just two preseason games.
For Saints fans, this means the black and gold will be suiting up for only two exhibition games. The Saints are scheduled to visit the Pittsburgh Steelers on Aug. 23 before returning to New Orleans, where they will host the Houston Texans on Aug. 29.
Additionally, the NFL plans to order a 23-day acclimation period between the start of training camp (July 28 for the Saints) and the new first week of preseason games (Aug. 20-24). This is intended to give teams more time to work with their players and get everyone into game shape after a lengthy summer without much contact.
We’ll see if further changes are in store. The NFL is obviously working hard to maintain its 2020 regular season as scheduled, but this isn’t exactly a fight they can dictate on their terms. The full-contact nature of the sport means that more coronavirus infections are inevitable. Stay tuned for updates.
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