The NFL and the NFLPA have "created guidelines that let coaches and team staff return to their offices," but they "have yet to figure out how several thousand players can attend training camps safely even as confirmations of infected players emerge," according to Ken Belson of the N.Y. TIMES. NFL locker rooms are potential "petri dishes." After the agent for Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott confirmed he had tested positive for the coronavirus, other members of the Cowboys and Texans players "have also reportedly tested positive." A source said that the players' union on Monday "told agents there were still no guidelines established for testing protocols or rules on distancing and equipment for players' mandatory return to training camps." Belson notes the lack of guidance on the swift-approaching return has "left many in football unsure about safety in an environment that requires contact on nearly every play and cramped quarters in locker rooms." The guidelines are "bound to become more complicated when 90 players for each team show up for training camp and locker rooms are filled to capacity." Meanwhile, the league's goal of opening training camps on time has "become more complex because of the surge in COVID-19 virus infections in Arizona, Florida, Texas and other states where NFL teams are based." The league has said that it "will open all training camps simultaneously to preserve competitive balance, and that teams must train in their own facilities, preventing any from moving camps to states where infection rates are lower" (N.Y. TIMES, 6/17).
IMPOSSIBLE TO FOLLOW? In Houston, John McClain notes the NFL last week sent guidelines to every team, and Ravens coach John Harbaugh said that it "would be impossible to follow all of them." Other coaches agree with Harbaugh, but "haven't said so publicly for fear of rebuke from the NFL." One guideline that is going to be impossible for the Texans to follow is "keeping players 6 feet apart." While the team's locker room at NRG Stadium is huge, it is "too small for a training camp roster of 90 players." The NFL is a "game of adjustments, and this season is going to require flexibility like no other." The NFL is "trying to think of every situation that could arise because of the coronavirus." Teams are "trying to follow the guidelines as closely as possible." Every team is "treated equally, and they'll all have to learn as they go and call a lot of audibles" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 6/17).
