Goodell said no one associated with the league can become complacent with health and safety measuresGETTY IMAGES
NFL Chief Medical Officer Dr. Allen Sills on a possible playoff bubble said that while "'all options are on the table,' the league remains against such a move," according to Mike Jones of USA TODAY. NFL owners yesterday "took part in a virtual meeting on health, safety and other on-field matters," during which Commissioner Roger Goodell and Sills "reiterated their message of the need for compliance and a commitment to the strategy of the preventative measures of wearing masks, hand-washing and maintaining social distancing along with testing, tracing and isolation." Goodell to reporters: "We cannot become complacent. Not the players, not the coaches, not the personnel. Ninety percent is not good enough in this environment. We have to be incredibly diligent and disciplined." Sills "pointed out that since the start of training camp 12 weeks ago, the league has had just 100 positive cases." He indicated that a bubble "wouldn’t be foolproof," and that isolation "could lead to a heavy mental and emotional toll for players as they are sequestered from family members." Sills: "We don't feel that's the safest course of action for us" (USA TODAY, 10/14). Saints coach Sean Payton, a member of the league's competition committee, has "voiced support for the idea of a playoff bubble." NFL Exec VP/Football Operations Troy Vincent yesterday acknowledged that the idea "remains under consideration." But ESPN.com's Kevin Seifert noted the league and union "appear disinclined to institute a season-long bubble anytime soon" (10/13). NBC Sports' Chris Simms: "A bubble for the playoffs, I really hope that happens. It's the only way, I think, to ensure total safety in the most important part of the year" (“PFT,” NBCSN, 10/14).
EIGHTEENTH WEEK: On the possibility of adding a Week 18 to the season, Goodell said, "Flexibility is going to be critical. ... Fortunately we haven’t had to use many of the things that we have discussed and thought about. But we will have flexibility to be able to complete our season with the Super Bowl." In DC, Mark Maske notes the NFL already has "rescheduled several games, moving some teams’ bye weeks in the process," though such maneuvers "would no longer be possible after teams have had their byes." Vincent said, "The focus is playing the 256 games in the 17-week window knowing that potentially, if the season continues to progress and things happen, the 18th week potentially could be an option" (WASHINGTON POST, 10/14).
ANOTHER PATRIOT RULE: In Boston, Ben Volin notes the NFL sent the Patriots to K.C. for a game "just two days after approximately 20 members of the organization were exposed to COVID-19." But the league did change its COVID-19 protocol yesterday to "account for the exact situation encountered by the Patriots on Oct. 5." The league "didn’t call it a 'Patriot rule' in a three-page memo distributed Monday, but it’s hard to read it any other way." Still, the new rule "likely wouldn’t have prevented all 20 of the Patriots' close contacts from traveling to Kansas City, only the high-risk ones, which likely would have included" CB Stephon Gilmore (BOSTON GLOBE, 10/14).
