Little by little, life is trying to get back to its pre-COVID state. NFL coaches were allowed back into team offices last week. Their players may not be too far behind.
The league on Monday sent out detailed protocols that explain how 2,000-plus players on 32 teams will go about returning to a workplace where social distancing is impossible. According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, no dates have been set, but indications are that certain players may be permitted back inside their club’s facilities before the end of the month.
The NFL issued protocols to clubs this morning laying out plans for players’ return to club facilities, including physical distancing, facility cleaning and disinfecting, equipment cleaning etc. pic.twitter.com/mNzpnqfb0h
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) June 8, 2020
In a subsequent tweet, Pelissero pointed out the following highlights from the new league protocols:
Locker rooms are to be reconfigured to permit people being six feet apart.
Meetings must be conducted virtually when possible.
Helmets, shoulder pads, and similar pieces of gear are to be disinfected after each game.
Masks will be required except when interfering with “athletic activities.”
It’s an encouraging sign for an on-time kickoff to the 2020 season, though some support remains for a delayed October start. Of course, the season itself will be unusual for many reasons, not the least of which is the likelihood of stadiums at half capacity on gameday. That is a key precaution to be implemented in hopes of preventing a resurgence of the coronavirus. But despite the league’s medical protocols for teams, coaches, and players, there is still a monumental question looming.
The NFL sent a lengthy and detailed memo to teams today about protocols for players to return to facilities. Not yet settled, though, is the testing protocol for players and treatment protocol for anybody who tests positive.
— Judy Battista (@judybattista) June 8, 2020
How (and how often) players will be tested and what happens if a test comes back positive are still issues to be resolved. But the league is asking everyone to maintain their current practices in the meantime.
Another notable line from today's NFL memo on protocols:
"In advance of reporting of full Club rosters in July: Strongly
encourage Tier 1 and Tier 2 Individuals and Players to practice
virtual isolation wherever possible to minimize risk of infection."— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) June 8, 2020
Pelissero notes- and SI‘s Peter King has a source who agrees- that team minicamps are not expected to happen, “but the NFL and NFLPA are discussing the possibility of certain players — such as rookies, and veterans who changed teams and need physicals — returning to club facilities on a limited basis before June 26, per sources.”
King gives more detail on the possible timing of players reporting in his MMQB column:
“The new CBA dictates that teams can report 47 days before their first regular season game (a change from the old 14-day rule), meaning the report date for most teams would be July 28. Meanwhile, the joint committee on health and safety is recommending an acclimation period before camp, given the lack of football activity these guys have had, of at least a week or two (and up to three). The good news is, the new CBA builds in a five-day acclimation period. The bad news is players may need more than that under these unique circumstances. So the league has floated the idea of an earlier report date closer to the middle of July, to give players a better chance to get their feet underneath them.”
It’s a fluid situation, and there are still plenty of details to be ironed out. But we are getting closer to football.
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