After NFL players' social media blast, team owners will meet Monday to discuss safety measures
The first date rookies can report to NFL training camp is Tuesday. The NFL still has questions from the players about various safety protocols when practices start again.
The NFL had a lot of time to prepare for the beginning of camps, so the fact that there’s still so much uncertainty this week is troubling. There will be a league meeting at 2 p.m. Eastern time to discuss various issues regarding safety, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
News of the meeting came after many of the league’s star players tweeted out their concerns over the lack of a clear safety plan as they return to work during the coronavirus pandemic.
Preseason on league meeting agenda
One of the key sticking points is the preseason. Players don’t want any games. Owners have reduced it to two games but to this point have refused to cancel it altogether. Owners have proposed one preseason game. Keeping even one preseason game seems like an odd battle to pick, considering they are meaningless games without fans.
If there’s no preseason then rookies trying to make the roster — or try to impress other teams with good game film — will be put in a tough spot, and the league won’t be able to test out various new protocols before the regular season. But players don’t see a reason to risk their health on games that don’t count.
The preseason is one issue to be discussed on Monday, but far from the only one.
What are owners meeting about?
Owners also need to finalize safety protocols and “financial arrangements,” per Schefter. There are also player concerns about an acclimation period, to ramp up slowly to avoid injuries after an offseason without official practices and workouts.
The owners had a lot of time to clearly lay out the best plan possible for the start of camps. In an NBC Sports column by Peter King outlining testing and social distancing protocols, the common theme was what happens when a player or coach tests positive and the results take 24 hours to process.
“If the center tests positive on a Friday, and there’s a quarantine period for all of his close contacts ... well, if I just came from practice where I’ve been in a huddle with all my offensive teammates, been doing individual drills with all my linemen, then blocking the defensive linemen and linebackers all afternoon, aren’t we talking about 35 guys being close contacts with me?” Cleveland Browns center and NFLPA president J.C. Tretter said, according to King. “And if they’re all in quarantine for the next couple days, what does Sunday’s game look like? You don’t have enough bodies to put on the field to play.”
The owners haven’t communicated well with the players, and they have put off a lot of important issues that the union is worried about. Perhaps Monday clears up some of those issues, but it seems like there’s a lot to sort out with camp about to start.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/sports...day-to-discuss-safety-measures-144837323.html
The first date rookies can report to NFL training camp is Tuesday. The NFL still has questions from the players about various safety protocols when practices start again.
The NFL had a lot of time to prepare for the beginning of camps, so the fact that there’s still so much uncertainty this week is troubling. There will be a league meeting at 2 p.m. Eastern time to discuss various issues regarding safety, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
News of the meeting came after many of the league’s star players tweeted out their concerns over the lack of a clear safety plan as they return to work during the coronavirus pandemic.
Preseason on league meeting agenda
One of the key sticking points is the preseason. Players don’t want any games. Owners have reduced it to two games but to this point have refused to cancel it altogether. Owners have proposed one preseason game. Keeping even one preseason game seems like an odd battle to pick, considering they are meaningless games without fans.
If there’s no preseason then rookies trying to make the roster — or try to impress other teams with good game film — will be put in a tough spot, and the league won’t be able to test out various new protocols before the regular season. But players don’t see a reason to risk their health on games that don’t count.
The preseason is one issue to be discussed on Monday, but far from the only one.
What are owners meeting about?
Owners also need to finalize safety protocols and “financial arrangements,” per Schefter. There are also player concerns about an acclimation period, to ramp up slowly to avoid injuries after an offseason without official practices and workouts.
The owners had a lot of time to clearly lay out the best plan possible for the start of camps. In an NBC Sports column by Peter King outlining testing and social distancing protocols, the common theme was what happens when a player or coach tests positive and the results take 24 hours to process.
“If the center tests positive on a Friday, and there’s a quarantine period for all of his close contacts ... well, if I just came from practice where I’ve been in a huddle with all my offensive teammates, been doing individual drills with all my linemen, then blocking the defensive linemen and linebackers all afternoon, aren’t we talking about 35 guys being close contacts with me?” Cleveland Browns center and NFLPA president J.C. Tretter said, according to King. “And if they’re all in quarantine for the next couple days, what does Sunday’s game look like? You don’t have enough bodies to put on the field to play.”
The owners haven’t communicated well with the players, and they have put off a lot of important issues that the union is worried about. Perhaps Monday clears up some of those issues, but it seems like there’s a lot to sort out with camp about to start.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/sports...day-to-discuss-safety-measures-144837323.html
