In a letter to fans that was sent on Monday, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell outlined his league’s plans to play during the coronavirus pandemic, saying the main focus of pro football’s return was on “the safety of players, coaches, personnel, fans and our communities.”
“The NFL in 2020 will not look like other years,” Goodell wrote. “Players and coaches will be tested for the virus regularly, including every day for a while. Preseason games have been canceled. Everyone in the team environment must follow rigorous health and safety protocols to keep themselves and each other safe. When there is a positive test, strict regulations will be enforced to isolate and care for that individual and to contain the virus before it spreads. Even the sideline will look different. And, state and local health guidelines will help determine whether fans will attend the games. These adjustments are necessary to reduce the risk for everyone involved.”
According to protocols that were agreed upon late last week by the league and the NFLPA, players will be tested for COVID-19 starting this week and must produce three negative results over a four-day period. Once that is done, they begin daily testing on the fifth day and can be admitted to their team’s facility. Earlier versions of the protocol required only two negative tests before entry to the facility was allowed.
In related news, NFL chief medical officer Allen Sills confirmed the league is not considering playing in a “bubble” despite seeing the way MLB has struggled out of the gate with its non-bubble format.
The NHL, NBA, WNBA and MLS have all created bubbles for their leagues and had a good deal of success (so far).
“We’ve said all along that we expected there would be positive cases among players and personnel,” Sills told ESPN on Monday. “And there may be a number on each team. As long as this virus is endemic in society, we’re going to continue to see new cases. What we think is important is that we have protocols in place that can identify those cases as quickly as possible, and make sure that once we identify them, we take the right action, which is to isolate the individual away from the team, get them the appropriate treatment and then do the contact tracing.”
The bulk of the NFL’s players are scheduled to report to training camp Tuesday, though some have already started to opt-out of the season.
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