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From lockouts to lock downs, Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt has seen it all in his 10 seasons in the NFL.
The COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on pro football, to the point of shutting down all three-dimensional aspects of the offseason, have a profound impact on the development of the rookie class. The youngsters are unable to meet with the coaches on the practice field and get the hands-on learning necessary to integrate into the schemes or adapt to the speed of the game.
In a similar way, Watt had to endure a similar setback his rookie season. The NFL was in a lockout during the entire 2011 offseason due to negotiation hiccups with the NFLPA regarding a new collective bargaining agreement. The two sides didn’t come to an agreement until mid-July, which meant Watt’s rookie minicamp, organized team activities, and mandatory minicamp were wiped out, much like what is happening to the 2020 class.
“The thing that I’ve said is as long as you’re training and doing what you need to do from a training standpoint, a running standpoint, getting yourself into the physical shape necessary for training camp, you’ll be able to hit the ground running once training camp starts,” Watt told reporters on May 27. “This situation we actually have a little bit more of an advantage in that we have the Zoom meetings, we can go over the defense with the coaching staff. They can implement it and we can all talk to each other through that.”
2011 had its advantages in that Watt could meet with position groups or as a defense; there were no regulations forbidding the association of players, just coaches and players. In a way, Watt was able to still take reps, albeit without coaches.
It’s all virtual for the 2020 rookies.
“Right now we’re still kind of working through if that’s entirely safe to do, if we should be gathering on our own, if we shouldn’t, because we obviously want to get together,” said Watt. “We prefer to work out together, we prefer to go over plays together, but at the same time we have to be smart about the guidelines and making sure that we’re doing everything safe as well.”
Just as in 2011, all parties involved are navigating through waters of uncertainty. When football returns, the rookies will have to be able to hit the ground running and learn on the run.