NFLPA Medical Dir Thom Mayer said the union has put together a COVID-19 "brain trust" that "gives us a chance to get our arms around it so that we're doing everything we can to protect our player patients." Mayer, appearing yesterday on "The Adam Schefter Podcast Show" to discuss the pandemic and how it is affecting the NFL, said the league "has an obligation to provide a safe workplace for us." Mayer: "We've had two calls with the league to talk about what needs to be done, one several weeks ago, and ... that resulted in closing down the club facilities and shutting down travel." Mayer: "What we do, and what we have been doing for the last month, is going to determine if we have an NFL season and if so, what that season is going to look like." Mayer was asked whether there is going to be an NFL season this year, to which he responded, "The easy answer and the hard answer are the same answer, which is it's too soon to tell." Mayer: "We've encouraged the league to start to put in place a guideline, a road map for lack of a better term, to say at what point could the club facilities safely open because my job is to protect the health and safety of our NFL players and their families." Mayer said the NFL will "know a lot more in late May and early June" ("The Adam Schefter Podcast Show," ESPN.com, 3/30).
