The COVID-19 era will undoubtedly leave its mark on the 2020 NFL season, in whatever form it ends up taking. From the mechanics of how players and coaches interact with one another to fans’ attendance at games to the various pieces of equipment that have instantly become a standard part of present-day football gear, the game will change as a result of the pandemic.
But it’s the less obvious things, too. The unexpected ways the virus will force teams to alter their tendencies, their gameplans, their strategies, their very philosophies. Football has always been about the Xs and Os. But in 2020, it could come down to one simple tenet: The healthiest team wins.
Those were the words of Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott as he spoke to media members via videoconference on Wednesday. But he wasn’t speaking about the normal on-the-field injuries that typically turn a football season into a war of attrition decided by twisted knees, sprained ankles, and gimpy hamstrings. He was talking about the global pandemic that has claimed 166,000 lives in the US, has altered even the most basic routines of the majority of Americans, has forced millions to shelter in place at home… and inspired a sizable contingent of the Cowboys players to voluntarily sequester themselves in the hotel attached to their team headquarters.
“I’m already there,” Prescott said of The Omni Frisco Hotel, located at The Star. “For me, it’s about trying to stay as safe as I can, as healthy as I can. Without knowing the true future of where this season’s going to go, I think it’s important for us as players to try to create the biggest bubble- or the smallest bubble, I guess you can say- that we can amongst players, because as long as this season gets to play out, I think part of it is: The healthiest team wins. So that’s something we’ve come together as leaders and taken on this option to stay in this hotel. So we can try and stay healthy, we can all be there for each other, we can set an example for the young guys about avoiding downtown, or about avoiding other people and where people can go. Because what’s important right now is this football team, this season, and not only our health, but the health of our families, so I think this is the best way that we can make sure that that happens.”
While the exact number of Dallas players living at the hotel is unknown, Prescott estimated it to be “most of” the roster. The arrangement, paid for by the team, will dramatically limit those players’ exposure to people and places in their normal daily lives, hopefully reducing their risk- and the collective risk of the team as a whole- of contracting the virus.
“Once again, I can’t be mad at the guys for their personal reasons, or their family matters, that they may not want to come into the bubble or come into the hotel. But I know and trust they’re being grown men and doing the things they need to do and the things necessary to keep their health safe and to not put themselves in jeopardy of getting this deal and coming in here and giving it to anybody else.”
The hotel is becoming quite the home away from home for Cowboys personnel this year. Mike McCarthy also took up residence at The Omni for a time after his hiring in January as the team’s new coach. In the early days of his Dallas tenure, as he began the work of assembling a new staff, living at the hotel made the daily commute to his new office as quick and simple as an elevator ride.
McCarthy voiced approval of the players’ self-imposed bubble on Wednesday, acknowledging that it’s a luxury some other teams don’t have, and one that will benefit more than just his guys.
“Being connected to the Omni, it’s frankly just natural that we do the best that we can to create an environment to keep our players safe. Plus with the education and keeping up with the current protocols and as we continue to go through this challenge of battling COVID, that there are updates and upgrades. It’s only going to make us safer as a football team and, frankly, it’s only going to make us safer in a personal realm of educating our families and bringing the same focus and education into our own homes. Just very fortunate for the setup that we do have here. So we’re really looking at trying to create an Oxnard-type environment here at The Star. I think we’ve knocked it out of the park, and our players have totally bought into it and they’re excited about it. We’re off to an excellent start as far as handling this challenge.”
As for Prescott, he says his hotel accommodations won’t put much of a crimp in his day-to-day life.
“I’m not much of a going-out guy anyway,” the 27-year-old admitted, “so it’s been pretty easy for me, for the most part.”
For most of the Cowboys bunking in at The Omni, living next to a practice field might be a unique experience. For Prescott, though, it’s just a change of scenery. The quarterback, who’s bringing down $31.4 million this season under the franchise tag, had a full-size football field installed at his home recently.
“Obviously once COVID came around, it was tough to find a place to throw. It was very tough. I’ve always dreamed about having a football field in my backyard, so that was something that I kind of put the foot down and said, ‘Hey, let’s get it going. It can give me somewhere every offseason.’ You can’t plan for things like this, but when things like this come around, I’ll just be able to have it, and it’s obviously private access, and we can get the work we need. That was kind of the thought in creating that field in my backyard, and it’s been very beneficial. Just having the guys out there, being able to throw, being able to get a lot of work, and we’re going to hit camp running because we’ve been working for a good amount of time now.”
Cowboys wide receiver Amari Cooper confirmed to ESPN’s Todd Archer that he and several other receivers, tight ends, and running backs have worked out “consistently” with Prescott over the offseason, often on the quarterback’s backyard field.
Prescott, clearly, is all in on the 2020 season and will command one of the most promising offenses the team has featured in years.
Still, COVID-19 has made for uncertain times and unexpected changes of plans. The Mississippi State product was asked during Wednesday’s press conference if he considered opting out of the 2020 season, as over sixty other NFL players chose to do proactively out of concern over the virus.
“Never crossed my mind,” Prescott shot back. “Football has always been my safe haven. It’s always been a place for me to find peace. Especially with everything that’s happened in my life personally, especially in the place that this world is in, I think that football’s a safe heaven and it’s peace for a lot of people. It never crossed my mind to opt out and to not be here with the guys and to not be where I love to be doing what I’ve been blessed to do. Obviously, there are some concerns. But for me, it’s just about being as safe as I can, following the guidelines that the team and NFL have laid out for us to not put yourself in jeopardy of contracting this COVID thing.”
For those who have chosen to play on, the voluntary bubble at the team’s own facility presents the safest way to keep playing and preparing for an upcoming season. And should the quarantine prove effective at keeping the Cowboys healthy through training camp, Prescott is keeping the door open on possibly extending his stay into the regular season if the virus’s spread dictates.
“Right now, we’ve kind of talked about it as players more just for the camp, but who knows? As we go into this season, obviously, hopefully, doctors and people can still give us more updates of what’s going on in COVID and going on around not only our area, our community, our state, but this country. Right now, we’re just going to take it for the camp, but it may continue to go on. As I said, I think that the healthiest team has one of the best shots to win this so we’re going to do the best that we can to put ourselves in that small group.”
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