Tag: 2020 preseason

Report: NFL proposes one preseason game, players still opposed

The latest news is the league has proposed one preseason game, according to Tom Pelissero at NFL Network.

Rookies for the Chiefs and the Texas (who play the 2020 season opener) report to training camp today. What the season will look like or how we get there is still very much up in the air, though. Yesterday, dozens of star players took to Twitter in a coordinated campcaign to air concerns about the lack of agreement over safety protocols due to the pandemic.

Another major issue that has yet to be resolved is the preseason schedule. Previously, the NFL proposed cutting those games from four to two. The NFLPA did not agree, though. Considering the risk involved, they don’t want to play any.

The latest news is the league has proposed one preseason game, according to Tom Pelissero at NFL Network. Players are still opposed. Pelissero followed up with another tweet, stating that the one proposed preseason game would be the third on the schedule, slated for the week of Aug. 27.

For the Panthers, the third preseason game this year is scheduled to be against the Ravens on Sunday, Aug. 30. If it takes place, it will be televised nationally on NBC.

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Five Longhorns selected to 2020 preseason All-Big 12 football team

The 2020 preseason All-Big 12 football team was released on Thursday.

The Big 12 conference announced its 2020 preseason All-Big 12 football team on Thursday. Continue reading “Five Longhorns selected to 2020 preseason All-Big 12 football team”

NFL, NFLPA fight over preseason games ‘just getting started’

The league has told clubs to proceed as scheduled with the start of camp, but the players union has a different kind of preseason in mind.

With less than three weeks to go before NFL teams are scheduled to report to their facilities for training camp, there’s some mixed messaging happening regarding the 2020 preseason.

On Monday, team general managers and coaches were told that camp dates “should remain as scheduled,” according to NFL.com. But what actually happens once players report- on July 28 for most clubs- is now a matter of debate. And the debate is heating up quickly.

If the players have their way, there won’t be 2020 preseason games at all. Their union representatives have voted unanimously to cancel all preseason games this year.

The Hall of Fame Game, originally slated for August 6 and featuring the Cowboys and Steelers, was canceled late last month. Last week, word trickled out that Weeks 1 and 4 of the preseason would be scrapped as well, although that move still has not been made official. Playing just two exhibition contests would allow both a longer ramp-up for rosters before live game action and a longer cool-down before the regular season, as clubs navigate new Covid procedures.

“The league does not believe it needs the union’s approval to set its preseason schedule,” ESPN’s Dan Graziano notes, “although the players would argue that the changes in work rules brought on by the pandemic allow them the right to be involved in the decision.”

To that end, the NFL Players Association has proposed its own four-stage preparation plan that would replace the traditional slate of preseason games.

As per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero:

“The first stage would be medical physicals for all players upon reporting to camp, which would last three days. The following 21 days would make up the second stage, a strength and conditioning program to prepare the players’ bodies for a return to football activity. From there, teams would move to a third stage that would resemble OTAs in which players would participate in 10 days of non-contact, non-padded practices before eventually shifting to a 14-day fourth stage that would be focused on what camp traditionally looks like, with potentially 10 total practices with a maximum of eight padded practices.

“That total of 48 days would immediately precede Week 1, replacing preseason games with the longer preparation period desired by the NFLPA.”

While the players- and most fans- wouldn’t exactly miss games that don’t count, the league’s owners have long clung to them as bonus moneymaking events at their stadiums’ turnstiles and are reluctant to simply give them up, even under the extraordinary circumstances of a global pandemic. Under a two-game preseason format, discussions had been in the works to give each team one home and one away game as a way to not only placate owners, but also to allow each stadium crew a dry run of Covid procedures and give each team a chance to practice travel logistics.

The Cowboys are slated to face the Ravens and the Chiefs in Weeks 2 and 3 of the preseason, respectively. Both were initially to be home games played at AT&T Stadium.

But now, with the league telling teams to stay on schedule and the players union proposing an entirely alternate preseason itinerary, things could get heated as the dog days of summer approach.

NFLPA president and Cleveland Browns center JC Tretter had this to say in a blogpost explaining the union’s recommendation to nix preseason games.

“Every decision this year that prioritizes normalcy over innovation, custom over science or even football over health, significantly reduces our chances of completing the full season.

“We don’t want to merely return to work and have the season shut down before we even get started. The NFLPA will do its part to advocate for player safety. We will continue to hold the NFL accountable and demand that the league use data, science and the recommendations of its own medical experts to make decisions. It has been clear for months that we need to find a way to fit football inside the world of coronavirus. Making decisions outside that lens is both dangerous and irresponsible.”

While at the time of this writing, there has been no official response from the league, the stage is potentially being set for a major standoff before anyone even straps on shoulder pads.

Pelissero puts it plainly: “A fight with the NFLPA over preseason games is just getting started.”

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Bears QB battle faces another potential setback if preseason is eliminated

The NFLPA wants to eliminate the preseason entirely, which certainly won’t help the Bears in determining a starting QB with limited reps.

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, there’s a lot of uncertainty still surrounding the start of the 2020 NFL season, particularly when it comes to the preseason. After the NFL had decided to cut the preseason in half to just two games, now there are reports that the NFLPA has voted to skip the preseason entirely.

According to Dan Graziano, representatives for every NFL team unanimously agreed that there should be no preseason games played. Whether the NFL will force players to play those two scheduled preseason games or eliminate the preseason entirely remains to be seen.

As for possible solutions, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero laid out a plan where the NFL would go right from training camp into the regular season. The NFLPA’s alternative training camp schedule includes designated days for medical and equipment, strength and conditioning, unpadded practices and padded practices. This would fill in the two-week gap left by those scheduled preseason games.

The NFLPA’s proposed plan has a scenario where group workouts would initially be smaller — roughly 15 per and a maximum of 40 in unpadded practices — and then using August as a month to get players together in a high-exposure setting, per Pelissero.

Obviously the absence of a preseason would impact the Bears greatly with the quarterback competition between Mitchell Trubisky and Nick Foles, which was slated to begin in training camp later this month and last through preseason.

While training camp reps will be important — as practicing against Chicago’s vaunted defense will surely be a test of which QB is best suited for the starting job — there’s no substitute for live-game reps that would be lost if the NFL agrees to eliminate the preseason entirely.

In a shortened offseason, which figures to have a smaller sample size, Trubisky has the clear advantage over Foles. Trubisky has been playing in Nagy’s offense for two seasons and he’s built relationships with most of these skill position players, even some of the newcomers. Trubisky has been organizing offseason workouts, where he’s gotten a chance to work with new tight ends Cole Kmet and Demetrius Harris, as well as receiver Allen Robinson and running backs David Montgomery and Tarik Cohen.

Still, it comes down to on-field performance — be it solely on the practice field of Halas Hall or a combination of that and preseason. Last year, Trubisky caught a lot of flack for some rough workouts against this Bears defense at training camp. And training camp practices against one of the league’s best defenses certainly won’t be a walk in the park for either quarterback.

Ultimately, playing those two preseason games — and getting those live-game reps — is what would be best for the Bears in the end. But if that’s not what happens, Nagy will have to adjust, just like he’s had to do all offseason.

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Report: NFLPA wants to scrap entire 2020 preseason schedule

The NFLPA would like to cancel all of the 2020 NFL preseason schedule, according to an ESPN report.

First, there was a report two preseason games would be cut by the NFL, A report Friday suggests the NFLPA would like to erase the entire preseason slate due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The original thought/plan was the league would cancel the first and last week of the preseason schedule. The Hall of Fame game between the Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers has already been called off.

Per ESPN.com: 

The league does not believe it needs the union’s approval to set its preseason schedule, although the players would argue that the changes in work rules brought on by the pandemic allow them the right to be involved in the decision.

If this does happen, it would be fascinating to see whether offenses are ahead of defenses early in the season, or if the defenses benefit and have an advantage over offenses.

 

Player fines? Larger practice squads? Split teams? Covid posing more questions

The ongoing pandemic is forcing the NFL to ask some hard questions and consider new processes as it moves toward play in 2020.

At the time of this writing, NFL teams are 25 days away from reporting to training camp. The chances of a 2020 season actually happening, though, have never felt so shaky.

Given the longest head-start of any major sports league on how to proceed in the midst of a pandemic, the NFL has wasted most of that time cruising full speed ahead as if everything will be just fine. But with the nation’s coronavirus numbers constantly changing- and not for the better- the league suddenly finds itself nearing an event horizon, with more questions now than ever.

Adam Schefter reports teams are likely looking at starting camp this preseason with fewer than the usual 90 players. According to the NFL insider:

“One source said he believed it’s likely that teams will go to camp with 80-man rosters, and another source said it’s ‘definitely not 90.’ A third league source said he has ‘heard lots of discussion about 75 players potentially instead of 90,’ especially with the reduction in preseason games and teams not needing as many players for camp as normal.”

Another possible change? Larger practice squads. Those units are already set to grow from 10 to 12 this year thanks to the new collective bargaining agreement, but Schefter notes that the league is considering further expansion “to 16-20 players” to provide teams a larger pool of players to draw from should a Covid outbreak occur.

Team player representatives and the NFLPA’s medial director took part in a conference call Thursday regarding the virus.

ESPN’s Dan Graziano reports:

“One source told ESPN that players on the call were told that they could be fined for conduct detrimental if they are found to have engaged in “reckless” behavior away from the team facility, such as eating out in restaurants and using ride-sharing services.

New protective equipment- including gameday alterations to players’ on-the-field gear- was also discussed as a possibility.

Graziano goes on:

“Sources told ESPN there was plenty of pushback on Thursday’s call from players asking why they are trying to rush back to play if the virus is such a dangerous threat. Players also have been asking what happens to their contracts if they opt not to play for virus-related reasons (as some NBA players already have), what happens if they grow too uncomfortable to play as the season goes on and what happens to next year’s salary cap as a result of lost revenue this year.”

Even the buildings that NFL teams will be entering pose a legitimate risk. The league has already instructed teams to devise protocols for how team employees will move about their facilities. But SoFi Stadium, the new Los Angeles home of the Chargers and Rams that’s now nearly complete, revealed just Thursday that seven more workers at the stadium- from three different trades- have tested positive for Covid-19. Twenty-five stadium workers have now tested positive since the pandemic began.

The Cowboys were scheduled to open SoFi as the visiting team for its first game, Week 1 of the preseason against the Rams. The NFL had already nixed Weeks 1 and 4 of the preseason before the latest positive cases at the facility.

As stadiums reopen for business, recommendations from an internal group headed by a league executive “will likely include having stadiums stop accepting cash, concessions only offering prepackaged food, and for all fans to wear masks.” Daniel Kaplan of The Athletic reports that the NFL may even ask fans to sign liability waivers before attending games.

Amidst talk of shrinking training camp numbers and beefing up practice squads for the Cowboys and the 31 other teams, there’s also now talk of splitting rosters. The idea is for each club to keep two fully-functioning skeleton crews practicing in isolation. Like the president and vice-president not traveling on the same plane, if something happens to the A-team, the B-team can still take the field.

ProFootballTalk’s Mike Florio argues:

“Whether the squads practice in different shifts (following a thorough cleaning of the primary practice facility for camp) or whether part of the team works at the practice facility and the rest practices at the stadium, there’s real value in keeping the team separated.

“Obviously, fewer players in any given space will make it easier to comply with guidelines aimed at limiting the spread of the virus. More importantly, if an outbreak commences, the other half of the team will (in theory) be insulated.”

The sporting world is already getting a look at what happens when players and team personnel start testing positive. Major League Soccer, using Orlando as a “bubble city” to resume its season in just a matter of days, is dealing with an eleventh-hour outbreak on its Dallas team.

The team members reportedly tested negative for the virus before leaving Dallas but tested positive once inside the bubble. Texas is currently experiencing one of the highest Covid spikes in the country; Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott has already tested positive for the virus, as have other players among the Cowboys and Texans organizations.

Everything is changing daily for all Americans. Best-laid plans are falling by the wayside with every news report. A second wave of closings is spreading. Every question about how an NFL season might look or could work in the current climate just leads to more questions. And the answers to those questions aren’t set in stone. They’re not written in ink. Heck, by the time they’re scrawled on a dry-erase board, things have probably changed. And things will undoubtedly change again- multiple times- before July 28.

To that end in this rapidly-evolving environment, Florio warns that the CBA agreed upon in the pre-Covid era just a few months ago is in desperate need of an express-lane update to get the league and its players through a season like no other.

“They need to reach, essentially, a new labor agreement that covers one season of football,” Florio writes. “What the league thinks advances the safety interests of the players may be different from what the players believe. That’s where problems can arise, and problems that can’t be worked out could delay the start of training camp and, potentially, the start of the season.”

Florio even brings up the possibility of a “non-traditional work stoppage” that could result from the league and team owners plowing forward with football, putting players in jeopardy during an unprecedented global health crisis.

A work stoppage in the current landscape would be disastrous. But right now, a work startage looks like it could be, too.

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Which Chicago Bears QB will benefit from shortened preseason?

With the preseason being shortened to 2 games, that means fewer reps to determine the Bears’ starting QB, which should benefit Trubisky.

There are reports that the NFL is shortening the preseason from four to two games amid the coronavirus pandemic, which would effectively negate Weeks 1 and 4, making for a later start in preseason action.

In any other year it wouldn’t be a big deal. But with the Bears relying on training camp and preseason reps to determine their starting quarterback between Mitchell Trubisky and Nick Foles, it’s certainly not ideal.

Bears head coach Matt Nagy discussed the importance of the preseason in determining the starter between Trubisky and Foles. The plan was to give Trubisky and Foles equal reps, and perhaps two starts a piece. Now with the likelihood of a shortened preseason, Nagy is going to have to get creative in his approach.

Chicago will play a road game against the Denver Broncos and a home game against the San Francisco 49ers. Luckily for the Bears, those are two strong defenses that will challenge Trubisky and Foles, which should determine the best guy for the job.

But does this shortened preseason benefit one of these quarterbacks over the other?

You’d have to figure Trubisky has an advantage in this quarterback battle given his experience in this offense and his chemistry with his teammates. Trubisky admitted as much earlier this offseason.

“I think because it’s a small sample size, I think that advantage goes to me just because I’ve been the starter here the last two years, these are my guys, my teammates and guys I’ve built super strong relationships over the last two years,” he said.

While Trubisky has been organizing offseason workouts with Bears skill position players in the Chicago area, Foles hasn’t had a chance to make the move to Chicago and do something similar. For as much as understanding the offense is crucial, it’s also important to have that chemistry with your teammates.

But when all is said and done, it ultimately comes down to on-field performance. Even with those limited reps. So whoever is able to take advantage of the limited reps that they get — and show that they can be a consistent signal-caller for this team — will ultimately win the job.

“Whatever the sample size is, the on-field performance in practices, preseason games, whatever capacity that is, I think will determine it,” Trubisky said. “But I’m excited for the process and I know it will be a good, healthy competition with all the guys in our room and we’re just going to push each other and make our team better.”

The quarterback competition will kickoff in training camp, where Trubisky will get the first crack with the first-team offense. Whether that’s the plan for preseason remains to be seen. But you’d have to figure that the preseason will consist of a lot more Trubisky and Foles and less Tyler Bray.

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Amended preseason schedule will result in more changes for Dolphins

Amended preseason schedule will result in more changes for Dolphins

The news broke yesterday that the NFL is set to cut the 2020 preseason schedule in half — the latest measure deemed necessary for the league to build in an appropriate amount of preparation time for teams as the NFL looks to make up for lost time this summer. The coronavirus outbreak slowed American sports to a screeching halt over the last few months — but now we’re seeing some momentum for the return of professional sports. For the NFL, that means training camp will open as scheduled (for now) on July 28th for most teams. And now, with the amended preseason schedule, teams will have additional time to brace for the start of competitive games.

For the Dolphins specifically, there will also be some rearranging of the schedule that exists. According to Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald, each NFL team will have one home game and one away game over the two-week preseason.

Miami’s original preseason slate called for two home games over those two weeks:

  • 8/20/2020 — vs. Philadelphia Eagles (7:30 PM EST)
  • 8/27/2020 — vs. Detroit Lions (7:30 PM EST)

So with the preseason in flux, we may see the NFL opt to flip a game’s destination or they may opt to just reconfigure the preseason all together. The schedule is likely to continue to evolve for the NFL — but the primary concerns for the league are rooted in ensuring their policies and testing procedures are given as much time to be ironed out as possible and also to allow the players a proper runway into the season; given that the teams are currently so far behind, extra time in camp to get into playing shape is a valuable asset to protect the players from excessive wear and tear or injuries once the action goes live.

Stay tuned for more on the Dolphins’ evolving preseason schedule — there’s certain to be more shakeups ahead.

News: Cowboys run NFCE, shortened preseason not set in stone

Also, the most experienced McCarthy team ever, all-time W-L records in the NFC East, and four positional battles to watch at Cowboys camp.

The NFL preseason has never had so much hype. After scrapping the annual Hall of Fame Game between the Cowboys and Steelers, the league announced it planned to call off two games from every team’s summer schedule on Wednesday. But as of Wednesday night, the player’s union had reportedly not agreed to that yet, and was even calling into question whether there should be any preseason games at all in 2020. The exhibition games no one ever cares about are suddenly the top story in the sport.

Also worth noting in Cowboys Nation are looks at the Dallas roster in terms of experience, as well as what they could steal from having watched another club’s recent successes. There’s a deep dive into sack stats and how O-line play and QB skills both factor in. We’ve got video of Cowboys rookies showing off their moves, and a preview of several compelling camp battles at certain key positions. 49ers fans are reliving the day they denied the Dallas dynasty, but Cowboys fans are tallying up the total wins to determine an all-time division leader. Here are your News and Notes for July 1.

NFLPA has not signed off on shortened preseason :: NFL.com

Just hours after word leaked that the league would drop two preseason games for each team from the preseason schedule, NFL Network’s Mike Garofalo and Tom Pelissero report that the Players Association has not come to any decision on the move. In fact, “there are some within union leadership who continue to question whether it’s a smart move to play any preseason games at all.”

Cowboys lose 2 preseason games to Covid-19, NFL alters schedule :: Cowboys Wire

Pray they don’t alter it further. The Cowboys are now down a total of three (of a scheduled five) preseason games, though one was even more meaningless than the rest.

Is This Mike McCarthy’s Most Experienced Team? :: The Mothership

When thinking of experienced teams, the default is to focus on the quarterback. Interestingly enough, scribe Rob Phillips points out that only 12 quarterbacks in the current NFL have more starting experience than Dak Prescott. Time flies.

Ultimate all-time Dallas Cowboys rosters: Bob Sturm breaks down his draft :: The Athletic

Sturm fires back at Jon Machota and drafts basically the entirety of the 90’s dynasty that won three Super Bowls in four years. It’s a sound strategy, to be honest.

Reliving the 49ers vs. Cowboys NFC Championship games from the ‘90s :: Niners Nation

The 49ers-centric SB Nation blog does a trip down memory lane with one of the greatest rivalries the sport had to offer. Unsurprisingly, they focus on the 1994 NFC Championship- where the Cowboys spotted San Francisco 21 points yet still managed to make the game close late- instead of the previous two losses. There’s no accounting for taste.

Prescott, not Cowboys’ vaunted OL, responsible for big-play development :: Cowboys Wire

Is Dak Prescott’s ability to stay alive for long-developing plays a product of the usually-stellar offensive line in front of him… or his own athletic skills at the position? Our Tony Thompson dives in to the stats.

Some teams are thinking about game-day travel in 2020 :: ProFootballTalk

This is pure speculation at this point, and for some teams it seems nearly impossible. It’s unclear how players would have to deplane after a long flight and start playing almost immediately.

Four Cowboys training camp battles to keep an eye on :: Blogging the Boys

Look for veteran Joe Thomas and promising second-year man Luke Gifford to duke it out on the linebacker depth chart. Darian Thompson and Donovan Wilson will compete in the secondary. Trysten Hill looks to prove his doubters wrong as he battles rookie Neville Gallimore along the defensive line. And Joe Looney gets competition from newbie center Tyler Biadasz.

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NFL shortens preseason, Bears will play just two games

The NFL is shortening the preseason to two weeks, essentially cancelling Week 1 and Week 4.

There had been discussions of the NFL potentially shortening the preseason to two games due to the coronavirus pandemic. Now, it sounds like the NFL is putting that plan into action.

According to ESPN’s Kevin Seifert, the NFL is shortening the preseason to two weeks, essentially cancelling Week 1 and Week 4.

Players will report to training camp on July 28, and the first preseason games won’t be played until Aug. 20-24. The second week of the preseason will take place Aug. 27-31.

As for how that impacts the Bears’ preseason schedule, it would effectively cancel their contests against Cleveland Browns in Week 1 and Tennessee Titans in Week 4.

That would mean Chicago’s preseason slate would feature an away game against the Denver Broncos (Week 2) and a home game against the San Francisco 49ers (Week 3).

While Bears head coach Matt Nagy has typically not put much stock into the preseason, that philosophy has changed since last season, where he rested most of his starters throughout the preseason. Nagy intended to utilize the preseason for roster battles and to get his guys back into the speed of the game.

A shortened preseason will certainly impact several roster battles, most notably the quarterback competition between incumbent starter Mitchell Trubisky and veteran Nick Foles. While the battle will start in training camp, the preseason figures to be the most important aspect of the competition as it will feature live-game reps.

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