Tag: voluntary workouts

Cowboys to start voluntary portion of offseason program Monday

Dallas is one of 13 teams scheduled to begin their offseason program on Monday with voluntary workouts, meetings, and physical rehab. | From @ToddBrock24f7

It’s a back-to-work Monday for the Dallas Cowboys as the team’s offseason program for the 2022 campaign begins.

The Cowboys are among the 13 clubs kicking off their voluntary workout programs on Monday; seven other teams start Tuesday. The ten squads with new head coaches were allowed to begin their programs early, as per league rules. The remaining two teams will start workouts within the next two weeks.

For the Cowboys, the next two weeks comprise what is considered Phase One of the offseason schedule, where activities are restricted to meetings, strength and conditioning work, and physical rehab.

Workouts at The Star in Frisco are 100% voluntary at this stage. While players are not required to attend any part of the offerings, Dallas historically sees a majority of their key personnel participate.

The Cowboys’ walkthrough drills on the field are not slated to begin until May, after the NFL draft.

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Chiefs 2022 offseason workout schedule announced

The #Chiefs offseason workout program schedule has been revealed, with official dates for the first day, OTAs, and mandatory minicamp.

The Kansas City Chiefs are back in action sooner than you expect, with voluntary offseason workouts beginning next month.

Teams with new head coaches are able to begin their offseason program a bit earlier than other teams. The Chiefs (and all other teams with veteran coaches) can officially begin the first day of their offseason program on April 18.

The NFL announced full workout schedules for each team down below, from Day 1 through mandatory minicamp. Check out the schedule for K.C. down below:

  • First Day: April 18.
  • Organized Team Activities Group 1: May 25-26.
  • Organized Team Activities Group 2: May 31-June 2.
  • Organized Team Activities Group 3: June 7-10.
  • Mandatory Minicamp: June 14-16.

The Chiefs will hold their rookie minicamp either on the weekend of May 6-8 or May 15-17. However, that won’t be confirmed by the team or made official until after the draft.

There are three phases of the voluntary workout program. Here are the descriptions of each phase per the NFL’s press release:

Phase One:

“Phase One consists of the first two weeks of the program with activities limited to meetings, strength and conditioning, and physical rehabilitation only.”

Phase Two:

“Phase Two consists of the next three weeks of the program. On-field workouts may include individual or group instruction and drills, as well as ‘perfect play drills,’ and drills and plays with offensive players lining up across from offensive players and defensive players lining up across from defensive players, conducted at a walk through pace. No live contact or team offense vs. team defense drills are permitted.”

Phase Three: 

“Phase Three consists of the next four weeks of the program. Teams may conduct a total of 10 days of organized team practice activity, or ‘OTAs’. No live contact is permitted, but 7-on-7, 9-on-7, and 11-on-11 drills are permitted.”

There are no dates attached to the first two phases, though the first phase can begin as early as the Chiefs’ first day on April 18th.

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Cowboys’ offseason workout dates announced

The NFL has announced dates for all 32 teams’ voluntary workout programs, plus details of what’s permitted in each phase of the offseason.

The NFL is in a scheduling frame of mind. With less than a week before the release of the 2021 regular season game schedule, the league has now also set dates for all 32 teams’ offseason programs.

The programs occupy a nine-week span and are voluntary, as per the Collective Bargaining Agreement. The sessions are meant to give players “training, teaching, and physical conditioning” before the more physical training camps get underway later in the summer.

Here are the official dates for the Cowboys:

Rookie Minicamp: May 14-16
OTA Offseason Workouts: May 24-25, May 27, June 1, June 3-4
Mandatory Minicamp: June 8-10

The offseason program is broken down into three phases that dictate the level of contact and exposure for players.

Dallas is currently in Phase One, a four-week period (up from the usual two) that includes strength and conditioning, virtual meetings, and physical rehabilitation only. Phase One ends on May 14, when Cowboys rookie minicamp commences.

Phase Two lasts for just one work week, May 17 to 21, down from the typical three weeks. On-field workouts may include individual player instruction and drills. Players are allowed to line up across from one another and do “walkthroughs” of plays, but contact is not allowed.

Phase Three begins on May 24 and goes until June 18, its customary four-week length. In-person meetings and classroom instruction are allowed, subject to COVID-19 testing and tracking, facility access, and other protocols. Ten days of organized team practice activity are permitted; the Cowboys have six days scheduled. There is no live contact, but 7-on-7, 9-on-7, and 11-on-11 drills are allowed.

It’s beginning to look a lot like football.

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Multiple Texans participating in voluntary offseason workouts

Multiple Houston Texans players have begun participation in the voluntary offseason workouts, according to a report.

The Houston Texans do have a semblance of continuity going after a rollercoaster of an offseason.

According to NFL reporter Aaron Wilson, multiple Texans players began participation in the team’s voluntary workouts Monday. April 19 was the first day of the first phase of the nine-week program, which is strictly voluntary until the last week of mandatory minicamp.

Texans players originally voted with the NFLPA and other clubs to not attend the workouts. However, players that did choose to attend the workouts would be supported.

According to Texans general manager Nick Caserio, players were already using the team facilities for workouts.

“We’ve had a multitude of players that have been in here,” Caserio told Houston reporters on a Zoom call April 16. “They come in the building, they test, they go in the weight room, they work out, they go through their process. So, again, whatever players are here that choose to participate, like that’s their choice and we are going to create as good of a working environment for the players as possible. So when they come here, they feel comfortable, and they feel like they are improving as a Houston Texan football player, so that’s what our focus is going to be on.”

Coaches and players will not be allowed to participate in on-field work during this four-week phase. However, there will be an opportunity for at least two hours a day of virtual meetings.

Chargers players say many will skip voluntary workouts

Voluntary workouts were scheduled to begin on April 19.

Players from the Los Angeles Chargers on Friday joined players from a number of other NFL teams to say they won’t be reporting to team facilities next week to begin voluntary offseason workouts.

“We have a right in our CBA to choose whether or not we attend in-person offseason workouts and many on our team have made the decision to not attend,” the statement said.

NFL Players Association (NFLPA) president J.C. Tretter has been pushing for a repeat of last year’s offseason when COVID-19 outbreak forced teams to do everything virtually until training camps opened in August.

Per ESPN’s Dan Graziano, the NFL issued a memo to all 32 teams on Wednesday. The memo stated the only portion of the offseason that will be mandatory is minicamp in June.

Except for minicamp, the offseason programs are voluntary, even though most players participate in them and many players have contractual incentives to do so.

Several Falcons players opt out of voluntary offseason program

In a message released through the NFL Players Association, the Falcons players stated that while they aren’t unanimously opting out, the decision made by each player will be respected.

The Atlanta Falcons can be added to a growing list of NFL teams with players opting out of their voluntary in-person offseason programs to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Unlike some of the other teams, though, not all of Atlanta’s players are opting out.

In a message released through the NFL Players Association, the Falcons players stated that while they aren’t unanimously opting out, the decision made by each player will be respected. The statement then refers to last season’s virtual offseason as being beneficial to player health and safety.

Read the complete statement, per the NFLPA’s Twitter account below.

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Cowboys News: Dak MVP odds high, OTA boycotts bubble while McCoy wants do-over

Also, Ezekiel Elliott finds himself at a crossroads, Drew Pearson talks about his journey, a small-school DB prospect, and retooling at OT.

It’s still mock season, and legendary draft guru Mel Kiper has a new one that defensively-minded Cowboys fans should be happy with. But amidst the hype and hoopla of the countdown to draft day, there’s sobering news on the COVID-19 front as the players union recommends that its members boycott their teams’ voluntary workout programs over heightened virus concerns. Several Cowboys players in particular stand to lose out financially if they don’t attend in-person workouts, so things could get sticky soon.

Elsewhere, we’re spotlighting the offensive tackle position, checking out a late-round small-school DB, dissecting the deals of the two newest Cowboys free agents, talking about a possible return by Gerald McCoy, and exploring Ezekiel Elliott at a critical moment in his career. Also, Dak Prescott’s comeback season now has MVP odds attached to it, and “The Original 88” looks back on his football journey as he prepares to be enshrined in Canton. That’s all on tap in this edition of News and Notes.

NFLPA tells players to stay away from team facilities over COVID concerns

The players union is recommending a second straight virtual offseason; the Cowboys have had 25 players work out in-person already.

With the number of Americans who have been fully or partially vaccinated against COVID-19 growing daily, it may seem like things are getting back to normal everywhere. But the NFL’s approximately 2,000 players are bracing for yet another virtual offseason over coronavirus concerns.

On Tuesday, the players’ union recommended to players on all 32 teams that they not attend their clubs’ voluntary workouts, scheduled for most to begin on Monday.

As reported by NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the memo sent by NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith and union president JC Tretter paints a picture of league facilities that are actually worse off than they were at this time last year, when skyrocketing virus numbers effectively shut down a large portion of American businesses across all sectors and forced citizens into quarantined lockdowns.

The letter reads, in part:

“As we have made clear throughout bargaining, the COVID status in the country is as perilous as it was at this point last year; a number of players recently tested positive at team facilities; COVID weekly positive rates are as high, if not higher than, at this point last offseason; and NFL players who contracted COVID last season can become infected again.”

Most ominously, the letter goes on to argue that a second straight virtual offseason program “gives us the best chance to completing a full NFL season in 2021.”

Pelissero reported earlier that the Denver Broncos had become the first team to announce that they would boycott their team’s in-person voluntary workouts. The Seattle Seahawks followed suit, as did the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

But the Cowboys actually lead the league in in-person workouts at the facility thus far this offseason, with 25 players having made an appearance at The Star in Frisco, as per a Pelissero source.

 

Quarterback Dak Prescott famously installed a practice field at his house last offseason; several of his Cowboys teammates made appearances and took part in passing drills at the backyard gridiron with The Star off-limits.

Despite precautions, running back Ezekiel Elliott was diagnosed with COVID-19 last June. Backup quarterback Andy Dalton missed time during the season with COVID complications as he recovered from a concussion. Defensive tackle Walter Palmore tested positive during the season, as did a third player as recently as January 1.

News of the union’s recommendation that players stay away from their team facilities comes on the same day that the league informed clubs that Tier 1 and 2 employees “should be expected to be vaccinated unless they have a bona fide medical or religious ground for not doing so.” No vaccine, no admittance to “football only” restricted areas of team facilities and no working in close proximity with players.

That mandate specifically excludes the players themselves, but it drives home the heightened state of watchfulness that the league is operating under just days before offseason programs are set to begin.

The league has already announced expectations that there would be fans in the stands in 2021, but for the second year in a row, there is suddenly some question- at least among the leaders of the players union- as to whether there will be teams on the field.

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Seahawks players opt out of voluntary, in-person workouts

The Seattle Seahawks players have opted out of voluntary, in-person workouts this offseason due to continuing coronavirus concerns.

The Seattle Seahawks players released a statement Tuesday afternoon via the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) opting out of voluntary, in-person workouts due to safety concerns surrounding the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The players would prefer another virtual offseason instead.

The statement reads, in part:

For the protection of everyone’s safety, we the Seattle Seahawks are deciding to exercise our CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) right to not participate in voluntary in-person workouts. While many states in this country are still seeing rising COVID-19 numbers, we believe that a virtual offseason is best for everyone’s protection. Our hope is that we will see a positive shift in the COVID-19 data that will allow for a safe return for players when mandatory workouts are set to begin.

Phase One of the offseason programming is slated to begin on Monday, April 19.

The Broncos and Buccaneers players have both issued similar statements.

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