Tag: VMAC

Seahawks training camp: What’s on the schedule for Week 1

Here’s a look at the schedule of events for the Seattle Seahawks first week of training camp and COVID-19 testing ahead of physicals.

The Seattle Seahawks are set to kick off training camp on Tuesday, July 28, and this year’s schedule of events is definitely going to look a bit different for both fans and the players.

Due to extensive coronavirus concerns and per the guidelines agreed to by the NFL and NFLPA, players reporting to the VMAC will first take back to back COVID-19 tests on Tuesday and Wednesday before isolating and returning to take a third test on Friday.

Players will only be able to enter the Seahawks facility once a third negative test has been documented. The league estimates a roughly 24-hour turnaround time for test results. If negative, players will then proceed on to physicals and equipment fitting.

 

During the initial few days of strict testing, players will be mandated to attend virtual COVID-19 training and education and may participate in administrative and football-related meetings.

Welcome to the new Week 1 of training camp!

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Stay at home season: Locations of training camps for all 32 NFL teams

The NFL mandated all teams hold training camps at their home facilities due to the coronavirus – here’s where the clubs will practice in 2020.

The National Football League and the NFL Players’ Association still have numerous details to work out before the official start of training camps later this month. Most players are set to report on July 28.

The number of preseason games to be played still needs to be negotiated as well as the player roster number allowed to report to camps. One thing we know for certain, however, is that teams have been mandated to hold their training camps at their home facilities this year.

Here’s a look at where all clubs will be practicing this summer compared to last year’s location, per Jeff Kerr of CBS Sports.

Arizona Cardinals

State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona

Atlanta Falcons

Atlanta Falcons Training Facility in Flowery Branch, Georgia

Baltimore Ravens

Under Armour Performance Center in Owings Mills, Maryland

Buffalo Bills

One Bills Drive in Orchard Park, New York

2019 location: St. John Fisher College in Rochester, New York

Carolina Panthers

Bank of America Stadium (Charlotte, North Carolina)

2019 location: Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina

Chicago Bears

Halas Hall in Lake Forest, Illinois

2019 location: Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, Illinois

Cincinnati Bengals

Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio

Cleveland Browns

Cleveland Browns Training Complex in Berea, Ohio

Dallas Cowboys

Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas

2019 location: Marriott Residence Inn in Oxnard, California

Denver Broncos

Paul D. Bowlen Memorial Centre in Dove Valley, Colorado

2019 location: UCHealth Training Center in Englewood, Colorado

Detroit Lions

Detroit Lions Training Facility in Allen Park, Michigan

Green Bay Packers

Don Hutson Center in Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin

2019 location: St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wisconsin

Houston Texans

Houston Texans Training Center in Houston, Texas

2019 location: Houston Methodist Training Center in Houston, Texas

Indianapolis Colts

Indiana Farm Bureau Football Center in Indianapolis, Indiana

2019 location: Grand Park in Westfield, Indiana

Jacksonville Jaguars

TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, Florida

Kansas City Chiefs

Kansas City Chiefs Practice Facility in Kansas City, Missouri

2019 location: Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph, Missouri

Las Vegas Raiders

Raiders Headquarters in Henderson, Nevada

2019 location: Napa Valley Marriott in Napa, California

Los Angeles Chargers

Jack Hammett Sports Complex in Costa Mesa, California

Los Angeles Rams

California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, California

2019 location: University of California, Irvine in Irvine, California

Miami Dolphins

Baptist Health Training Facility in Davie, Florida

Minnesota Vikings

TCO Performance Center in Eagan, Minnesota

New England Patriots

Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts

New Orleans Saints

New Orleans Saints Training Facility in Metairie, Louisiana

New York Giants

Quest Diagnostics Training Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey

New York Jets

Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, New Jersey

Philadelphia Eagles

NovaCare Complex in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh Steelers

Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

2019 location: Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania

San Francisco 49ers

SAP Performance Facility in Santa Clara, California

Seattle Seahawks

Virginia Mason Athletic Center in Renton, Washington

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

AdventHealth Training Center in Tampa, Florida

Tennessee Titans

Saint Thomas Sports Park in Nashville, Tennessee

Washington

Bon Secours Washington Football Team Training Center in Richmond, Virginia

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NFL discussing allowing new players into club facilities in June

The NFL and the NFLPA are discussing allowing rookies and free agents who need physicals to return to club facilities by June 26.

COVID-19 may not be at the forefront of our country’s mind anymore, after issues of racial injustice and police brutality have taken over, but the impact it is having on the world of sports is still rampant – even if things are slowly starting to get back to normal.

NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported that, while minicamps are not expected at all this year, there is discussion between the NFL and the NFL Player’s Association to allow rookies, as well as veterans who changed teams and need physicals, to return to club facilities on a limited basis as soon as June 26.

For the Seahawks, this would allow the team an opportunity to get their 25 rookies – eight draft picks and 17 undrafted free agents – into the Virginia Mason Athletic Center in Renton, Washington – along with veteran newcomers Bruce Irvin, Benson Mayowa and Phillip Dorsett, among others.

There are still hurdles to be overcome, including King County’s rules on gatherings over 50 people, but this could be an opportunity for the team’s newcomers to start bonding with each other in person as the start of the 2020 NFL season continues to draw close.

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NFL to mandate teams stay at home facilities for training camps

In light of the coronavirus pandemic, the NFL is expected to mandate teams to stay at home facilities for training camps this summer.

The NFL is doing everything in its power to ensure there will be football this fall in spite of the coronavirus pandemic that is still strapping the nation.

The league has revealed its 2020 regular-season schedule as well provided protocols clubs must follow in order to slowly begin opening up their facilities.

The next step the NFL appears to be taking is to mandate that all team training camps be held at their home facilities this summer.

“A source tells 7 Sports that the NFL will soon make an announcement telling teams they must remain at their own facilities this summer for preseason camps that begin in late July,” writes Pete Yanity of wspa.com.

“The NFL is expected to make the announcement official Tuesday afternoon,” Yanity reports.

The Seahawks, who now exclusively hold their training camps at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center, won’t be impacted by the news, but five teams around the league regularly travel for the summer event and will now be relegated to their home facilities.

This story is continuing to develop.

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Quandre Diggs: ‘This pandemic is bigger than football’

Quandre Diggs is eager to get back on the field in 2020, but he acknowledges there are more important things than football at the moment.

The Seattle Seahawks only got a taste of what Quandre Diggs can bring to this defense. The star safety only managed to play in five games with Seattle last year, after coming over in a midseason trade with the Detroit Lions and promptly missing a handful of games with a hamstring injury.

Now, while Diggs is eager to get back on the field with his teammates in 2020, he also acknowledges the world’s current events take precedence, and he’s worried about considerably more than just football for the time being.

“The pandemic is bigger than football at the moment,” Diggs told Seattle media members on Thursday. “I mean, I’ve got a 10-month-old daughter that I’ve got to take care of. I have an 87-year-old grandmother that I’ve got to keep safe.”

The NFL is slowly allowing facilities to open this week, and the NCAA is allowing football and basketball to start doing activities in June as well, a sign the country is inching closer to live sports in the Fall.

Diggs wouldn’t comment on when or how he believes football will return to the Seattle area, which is currently still mostly locked down. The team’s practice facility, located in Renton, Washington, has yet to re-open.

“At the end the day, this pandemic is bigger than football,” Diggs continued. “I just think we’ve got to let all the facts—we’ve got to let all the doctors and the scientists, let those guys figure it all out. I mean, whatever Goodell or whoever makes the announcement that we’ll come back and play ball, then we’ll just go from there.”

“I’m not here to assume anything,” Diggs continued. “I hope we have a season. I do. But at the end of the day we’ve got to look after, and look at all the facts, and see then.”

Diggs, who is entering his sixth NFL season, knows he will be ready to suit up as soon as the league is ready to begin the year. With his injury issues behind him, the Seahawks will get a look at their dominant safety tandem for (hopefully) an entire season in 2020, if and when the season begins in September.

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NFL sets protocols teams must have in place for reopening facilities

The National Football League has issued a memo detailing the protocols teams must have in place for reopening due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The National Football League has now put all 32 teams on notice of the protocols clubs must have in place by May 15 prior to the potential reopening of any facilities.

A limited number of non-player personnel would be allowed to return in the first phase of the protocol.

Commissioner Roger Goodell outlined the following requirements laid out in a memo obtained by the Associated Press.

The step-by-step requirements are:

Local and state government officials must consent to reopening.

The team must implement all operational guidelines set by the league to minimize the risk of virus transmission among employees.

Each club must acquire adequate amounts of needed supplies as prescribed by the league.

An Infection Response Team with a written plan for newly diagnosed coronavirus cases.

An Infection Control Officer to oversee all aspects of the implementation of the listed guidelines.

Each employee who returns to work at the club facility must receive COVID-19 safety and hygiene training prior to using the facility, and agree to report health information to the ICO.

“While these protocols have been carefully developed and reflect best practices,” Goodell wrote in the memo. “They can also be adapted and supplemented to ensure compliance with any state and local public health requirements.”

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Marshawn Lynch began preparing weeks ago for potential return

A visit to the practice facility two weeks ago set the stage for Marshawn Lynch’s improbable return to the Seattle Seahawks.

On December 12, four days after Rashaad Penny suffered a season-ending ACL injury, Marshawn Lynch visited the Seattle Seahawks practice facility in Renton, Washington – a visit the team was required to report since Lynch had not filed retirement paperwork.

The team downplayed it as Lynch visiting old friends and family, as his cousin works at the VMAC, and at the time no one had any indication Beast Mode would be back – except Lynch himself.

According to NFL.com reporter Tom Pelissero, Lynch began an intense workout regimen shortly after with his long-time coach, Tareq Azim, which included Azim basically beating up Lynch in an effort to simulate the contact absorbed in an NFL game.

“The one thing I can tell you is you can be 100 percent certain that he’s well aware of what his body can and can’t do,” Azim told Pelissero. “He’s made a choice to contribute to a team and a city that’s given him a lot.”

The Seahawks made the reunion with the 33-year-old official late Monday night. Lynch has not played in an NFL game since October of last year, but his freak athleticism and intense training – at least over the past few weeks – could help him be ready for a small workload on Sunday against the 49ers.

Of course, Lynch’s return is about far more than just what he can and can’t do against San Francisco. His arrival gives Seattle a much-needed shot in the arm as they look to bounce back from an ugly loss and win the NFC West against their long-time division rivals on Sunday Night Football.

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