NFL officials are confident its protocols work as long as they are followed correctlyGETTY IMAGES
The NFL is "not giving serious consideration to pausing the season or going to home market bubbles with mandatory hotel stays for players, coaches and team staffers when they leave team facilities each day," according to a source cited by Maske & Boren of the WASHINGTON POST. The NFL "remains firmly convinced that its protocols work when they’re followed." However, sources said that the league has given "preliminary consideration to adding an 18th week to the regular season to accommodate further postponed games." Meanwhile, more positive tests this week have "put the playing of this weekend’s games involving the Titans and Patriots in doubt after both teams had their games this past Sunday postponed." They also "kept the Titans from reopening their facility Wednesday, as they had hoped, and the probe by the league and the NFL Players Association into the team’s outbreak widened." The Patriots’ facility also was closed yesterday, while a source said that the Raiders were "permitted to practice because they had only one positive test." The source added that it was "too soon to know about the status of this Sunday’s games." The Titans had been "hopeful they would be permitted to reopen their facility" yesterday, but two more positive tests this week, "combined with the positive tests in New England and Las Vegas, provided another reminder of the difficulties facing the league as it attempts to operate during the pandemic" (WASHINGTON POST, 10/8). ESPN’s Field Yates said the NFL has “no choice but to probably end up playing a game of schedule Tetris for the next 12 weeks of the regular season" (“Greeny,” ESPN Radio, 10/7).
INHERENT CHALLENGES: In N.Y., Belson & Shpigel note neither the league nor its players have "moved to adjust or delay the regular-season schedule beyond moving games on an ad hoc basis rather than canceling games, expanding the length of the season or putting teams into quarantine between games," something the NBA and other leagues have done. And the "juggling act is likely to continue because even players and coaches who follow the league’s protocols to the letter are still at risk once they leave their team’s facilities." Even as the league "punishes teams, players and noncompliant coaches for violating coronavirus safety measures, a growing number of franchises are planning to increase the number of fans in their stadiums on game days" (N.Y. TIMES, 10/8). ESPN’s Bomani Jones said it is “kind of amazing” the NFL has “gotten as far as they have without having an outbreak.” However, the league is now “all over the place.” Jones: “I don’t think anybody has a great answer for what there is to do, except the NFL’s answer on all these things seems to be, ‘Keep on going.’ And they can keep on trying, but the whole damn league is going to be sick” (“Highly Questionable,” ESPN, 10/7).
SEASON STOPPAGE ON THE TABLE? NFL Chief Medical Officer Dr. Allen Sills in an interview with the NFL Network yesterday said that "all options remain on the table ... including some type of pause or reset." In K.C., Vahe Gregorian writes it is "no wonder apprehensions will hover all the more over an NFL season that suddenly appears more precarious than ever." The league has been "verging on an inflection point after the last few days." Still, "barring playing in a bubble, this was never going to be seamless" (K.C. STAR, 10/8). In Boston, Ben Volin argues "instead of trying to push games back or blow up the schedule, Goodell and the NFL have an easier fix: Take a timeout." Volin: "Press pause on the season. Send every team home for a week or two to isolate, get healthy, and start anew." The success of the '20 season "depends on the league’s ability to control outbreaks. And it is becoming clear that the NFL needs to get a better handle on COVID-19." It is "inevitable that COVID-19 will force more games to be moved." But the NFL "can’t just keep postponing games to Monday or blowing up the schedule each time a game has to be moved." It is "becoming clear that the NFL will have to take drastic action to save its season" (BOSTON GLOBE, 10/8).
HOW TO SAVE THE SEASON: In Boston, Bruce Castleberry writes it is "going to take harsh measures" for NFL to "contain this budding disaster." He argues the league should "halt the season immediately" and move games from Weeks 5-8 "to the end of the season." The NFL also should "stop letting fans into games" and "play in a bubble" (BOSTON HERALD, 10/8).
