Tag: physicals

Teams are ‘struggling’ to get accurate medical info on draft prospects

As a result of the cancellation of the scouting combine, NFL teams are struggling to get accurate medical info on 2021 draft prospects.

The ongoing coronavirus pandemic continues to have an impact on the National Football League, especially on teams as they continue to prepare for this year’s NFL draft.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the lack of availability has clubs scrambling to find medical information on potential draftees.

“Teams struggling to get accurate medical information on prospects due to absence of this year‘s combine,” Schefter tweeted. “Even though there were medical exams in Indy this month given to 150 players, teams not pleased. There’ll be last-minute decisions based off medical info still trickling in.”

In addition to the lack of a combine in February, teams may also have incomplete pictures of prospects due to shortened or even cancelled seasons in 2020 as a result of the virus.

Regardless, the NFL draft will kick off Thursday evening so teams have just days to gather any missing info.

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NFL suspends player physicals until coronavirus pandemic has passed

In light of the recent outbreak and to ensure safety, the NFL has suspended player physicals until the coronavirus pandemic has passed.

The world, the nation, and now the NFL is reacting strongly to the threat of the spread of the coronavirus. The league has now halted all physicals indefinitely.

The president of the NFL Physicians Society, Dr. Anthony Casolaro, issued the following letter to the NFL and NFL Players Association. In sum, free-agent players and draft prospects will not be examined until the pandemic has passed.

“The Board of Directors of the NFL Physicians Society (NFLPS) have met by phone and communicated with members of Professional Football Athletic Trainers Society (PFATS) that the NFLPS has agreed to discontinue Combine rechecks, free agent physicals and physicals for non-Combine players until the health crisis has passed,” Casolaro wrote in the letter. “We believe It is not in the interest of the players nor team medical staff to continue to perform these physicals.”

“At a time of the most serious pandemic in our lifetime, we believe medical resources should focus on those who are ill or in need of care. We look forward to examining players when it is appropriate to do so.”

Just last week, the NFL had banned all physicals at club facilities, which have now shuttered their doors.

Clearly, the inability to examine players ahead of contract offers and this year’s NFL draft will have a major impact on teams around the league.

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Touchdown Wire gives Seahawks ‘C grade’ for free agency so far

After the first week of NFL free agency, Touchdown Wire gives the Seattle Seahawks a “C grade” for their activity and dealings so far.

We are nearing the end of the first official week of NFL free agency, and despite all the restrictions as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, teams are finding ways to get deals done.

The Seahawks have made a number of moves so far but will not be announcing any contracts are official until the physicals are completed and the paperwork signed.

That being said, with the reports of the deals so far, here’s a look at Touchdown Wire’s analysis of Seattle’s free agents gained and lost to date.

Doug Farrar and Mark Schofield put together the following thoughts on the Seahawks’ dealings.

“Losing offensive lineman/hybrid tight end George Fant to the Jets wasn’t a big deal for the Seahawks, but losing outside/inside pass-rusher Quinton Jefferson to the Bills presents a bigger issue,” Farrar and Schofield write. “Jefferson is one of the NFL’s most underrated defensive linemen, and Seattle doesn’t have another guy with Jefferson’s capabilities unless Jadeveon Clowney re-signs in the Emerald City. Losing Jefferson also takes some of the luster off the Jarran Reed re-signing, though Reed is a quality player. Signing former first-round pick Bruce Irvin back gives a bit of edge-rush capability, as well as linebacker depth for the team that plays more base defense than any other. The sleeper deal so far for Seattle, we suppose, is multi-positional offensive lineman B.J. Finney, who fills a few backup holes but doesn’t solve the team’s longstanding protection issues in a larger sense.”

Farrar and Schofield will continue to update their analysis on the Seahawks’ free agent moves, but give the team a grade of “C” so far.

You can follow all of Seattle’s latest moves here.

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Seahawks won’t announce personnel moves until contracts are signed

At the request of the NFL Management Council, the Seattle Seahawks won’t be announcing personnel moves until after the contracts are signed.

The Seattle Seahawks are complying with the memo the NFL Management Council sent out to all teams in regards to the handling of contract announcements in light of the coronavirus outbreak across the nation.

Clubs were asked to refrain from announcing personnel moves until physicals could be completed and contracts actually signed. Other teams around the league have attempted to get around the mandate by issuing “reports,” instead.

The Seahawks issued a statement Tuesday afternoon announcing they would be complying with the league’s request.

But just because the Seahawks won’t be making any formal announcements at this time doesn’t mean the team hasn’t been busy on the official first day of 2020 free agency. Agents and reporters are still breaking news about players who have agreed to terms with Seattle and other related team moves.

We’ll keep you updated on the latest reported transactions as the news comes in via our live tracker, which can be found here.

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Mike Evans and Chris Godwin clear their physicals

During Tuesday’s press conference, coach Bruce Arians stated that both of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ superstar wide receivers, Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, whom ended the 2019 season on IR both respectively with hamstring injuries, have cleared their …

During Tuesday’s press conference, coach Bruce Arians stated that both of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ superstar wide receivers, Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, whom ended the 2019 season on IR both respectively with hamstring injuries, have cleared their physicals.

Godwin finished the 2019 season with 14 games played totaling a stat line of 1,333 yards on 86 receptions to go along with nine touchdowns. Potentially even more impressive considering that Godwin finished third in receiving yards only behind the Atlanta Falcons’ Julio Jones, who played in 15 games, and the New Orleans Saints’ Michael Thomas, who was available for all 16 regular season games.

Evans finished his season a week prior with the same hamstring injury, and missed the remaining three games of the regular season. Ultimately, Evans would finish the year out with 1,157 receiving yards, 67 catches and eight touchdowns. Evans going over the 1,000-yard mark for the sixth time in just as many seasons put him in the rare company of Randy Moss as the only players ever to do so.

With the passing of their physicals, that gives the Buccaneers front office a breath of fresh air, as hamstring injuries have so many uncertainties that go along with them.

2020 NFL Scouting Combine: Schedule of events

A schedule of events, including TV broadcast times, for this year’s NFL scouting combine, which will take place at Lucas Oil Stadium.

The 2020 NFL Scouting Combine is now underway in Indianapolis at Lucas Oil Stadium. This year, 337 of the top prospects were invited to attend the events.

The combine is compromised of four key phases: medical evaluations, interviews, athletic testing and positional workouts. This season, the on-field drills will be televised in primetime.

Head coaches and general managers will speak to the media first, with Seahawks GM John Schneider slated for 9:30 a.m. PT on Tuesday and coach Pete Carroll at noon.

The prospects will then be interviewed by NFL teams, which will take place Tuesday through Friday, followed by the workouts and drills later in the week.

Here’s a look at the schedule of events by position groups.

PROSPECT INTERVIEWS

Tuesday: 5:00 a.m. PT to 8:00 a.m. PT, quarterbacks, receivers and tight ends

Wednesday: 5:00 a.m. PT to 8:00 a.m. PT, running backs, offensive linemen and kickers

Thursday: 5:00 a.m. PT to 8:00 a.m. PT,  defensive linemen and linebackers

Friday: 5:00 a.m. PT to 8:00 a.m. PT, defensive backs

ON-FIELD DRILLS (TELEVISED):

Thursday: 1:00 p.m. PT to 8:00 p.m. PT, quarterbacks, receivers and tight ends

Friday: 1:00 p.m. PT to 8:00 p.m. PT, kickers, special teams, offense linemen, running backs

Saturday: 1:00 p.m. PT to 8:00 p.m. PT, defensive linemen and linebackers

Sunday: 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. PT, defensive backs

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