The NFL and its teams are working with the NFL Players’ Association on all of the details related to COVID-19 for this season, much like they did the last.
Yesterday, Cleveland Browns center J.C. Tretter, who is also the president of the NFLPA, noted that there are obvious differences in protocols for vaccinated players and those who are not. “The vaccinated players are pretty open – we do not have to wear masks, and we do not have to be tested every day,” he stated. “The unvaccinated players still have to follow the same kind of protocols of mask requirements and social distance.”
Tretter noted that the building is still set up as it was with COVID so their lockers are still spread out with vaccinated and unvaccinated players not having a difference.
A report today says that the Browns have a lot of players and staff that have gotten their vaccinations:
The #Browns are also in the upper group, in both categories. https://t.co/P4iDhuiHzG
— Aditi Kinkhabwala (@AKinkhabwala) June 16, 2021
There may be a competitive advantage for teams with high vaccination rates. Vaccinated players are not tested daily, as Tretter noted, and are not subject to contact tracing protocols should someone on the team test positive.
While those protocols could change between now and the start of the season, vaccinated players are less likely to miss practices or games as Cleveland saw happen quite often in 2020.