Payton said he was considering changing his face covering from a gaiterGETTY IMAGES
Saints coach Sean Payton "admitted he didn't do the best job of remembering to pull his face covering back up after calling out plays" after he was fined $100,000 for failure to follow the NFL's face-covering protocol during their "MNF" game with the Raiders, according to Amie Just of the New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE. Payton said, "It's OK if you're pulling it down while you're calling plays but what happens is I get caught up in the game and half the time forget that it's down, so I've just gotta be more diligent with it." Payton "didn't say if he was going to change up his type of face covering moving forward, but potentially switching was on his mind" yesterday. Payton said it was easier "if you have the gaiter on to lose track that it sits around your neck." Meanwhile, Packers coach Matt LaFleur said that he "occasionally forgets to pull his face covering back up, too." LaFleur: "I've got an assistant that's right by me that if he doesn't tell me that my mask if down, he's in trouble. I certainly don't want to get slapped with a fine" (NOLA.com, 9/23). Texans coach Bill O'Brien said he and his peers around the league are "doing our best to keep our masks on." O'Brien: "That's the key. Nobody wants to get fined. We're all doing our best. That's what the NFL decided on." He added, "Relative to the mask and the communication into the headset and things like that, sometimes your voice is muffled. We're just all trying to do our best" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 9/24).
DOES HE HAVE A POINT? Fox' Troy Aikman during an appearance on Dallas-based KTCK-FM said he does not understand why coaches are being fined for not wearing masks. He said, "The coaches are tested just like the players. Players don’t wear masks. ... It’s all an optics thing from the league and that’s where I kind of draw a line. And it’s not just in sports. Everything has been politicized, and I just hate to see that the league has jumped into this and they’re fining coaches and teams primarily because of how it looks on TV. I just think it’s ridiculous. It’s hard enough to call plays and be heard and understood, let alone to be having a mask on” (THEATHLETIC.com, 9/24).
TAKE TWO: In Chicago, I-Chun Chen reported face shield manufacturer InstaShield is sending all NFL head coaches "anti-fog face shields to urge them to give face shields another try." The Chicago-based company said that it is "offering to outfit each team with personalized shields free of charge." Chiefs coach Andy Reid wore a face shield during the season opener against the Texans, but when it fogged up, the shield "became the subject of numerous internet memes." InstaShield said that it "hopes coaches will give face shields another try, mainly because they provide clear communication and are comfortable to wear." The company said that the face shield Reid wore was "similar to patent-pending InstaShield, but 'not the real deal'" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 9/23).
