The total number of NFL players on the COVID-19 list now is "down to 12 -- with three more coming off it, and none going on" as of 4:00pm ET yesterday, according to Albert Breer of SI.com. That is "fantastic news, and it’s really crystallized the importance of daily testing." It also is why the "low cost, rapid results and accessibility of the saliva test that’s coming could be a game-changer not just for football, but for all sports" (SI.com, 8/17). In Minneapolis, Chip Scoggins writes the NFL's testing numbers "suggest that strict protocols inside facilities, frequent testing and tracing and everyone behaving properly and being accountable once they leave at night are having the desired effect." It is an "encouraging development, especially now that teams are cleared for full practice." The data that "emerges over the next few weeks will provide strong indication on whether a sport that runs counter to social distancing can make this work" (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 8/18).
SO FAR, SO GOOD: YAHOO SPORTS' Frank Schwab wrote it "seems the NFL is doing something right when it comes to COVID-19 cases." But while the league's low number of positive players "has to be considered a good sign," there are "plenty of challenges ahead." Just because the NFL has a low number of players on the reserve/COVID-19 list now "doesn’t mean the season will go off without a problem." Still, it is a "positive sign" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 8/17). In Chicago, Hub Arkush writes, "I am now convinced the 2020 NFL season will kick off on Thursday, Sept. 10 in Kansas City." Arkush continues, "For the longest time I've believed based on research and reporting, the powers that be in the NFL would make decisions about the season based strictly on what is safest for the greatest number of people. ... What no one is willing to say or project is whether there is a line in the sand where play will have to stop because too many people are suffering, nor do we know yet if it will even come to that?" (Chicago DAILY HERALD, 8/18).
