Kansas City Chiefs to Re-Open Facilities in "Very Limited Capacity" on Tuesday
It won't include Andy Reid or Patrick Mahomes, but the Kansas City Chiefs will be able to return a portion of their employees to their facilities at Arrowhead on Tuesday as the league evolves to operate during the Coronavirus pandemic. Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer placed the Chiefs in a category of teams who will open "in a very limited capacity" on Tuesday.
As the NFL has announced plans to begin re-opening facilities across the league, the Chiefs are among the first teams to begin opening in a limited capacity.
Breer wrote more about the NFL's re-opening plans and where the Chiefs fit on SI.com on Monday:
I did send texts out to all 32 teams on Sunday and heard back from all of them, in one form or another.
Six are set to open in the coming days in a very limited capacity—with the Falcons, Steelers, Texans, Chiefs, Cardinals and Colts doing so Tuesday, and the Bengals on Wednesday. The Broncos, meanwhile, will spend this week prepping the facility, and have a small group back in the office a week from Tuesday, the day after Memorial Day.
The other 23 are in varying positions right now. The Bills, Jets, Giants, Lions, Chargers, Ravens, Seahawks and Washington are all under rules that prevent them from opening, and don’t anticipate that change until after Memorial Day. The Patriots, and Massachusetts, will hear from their governor on what they’ll be allowed to do on Monday. And then there are a couple where things are more complicated.
Breer then goes on to elaborate on the situations of the Rams and Raiders and discusses exactly how complicated the various circumstances can be from team-to-team, and, by extension, for the NFL as a whole.
With the Chiefs being able to return to their facilities in some capacity, what exactly does that entail? Breer lays out the details:
The first steps in NFL office life coming back will begin this week, as set out under the conditions of a Friday memo from (virtual) 345 Park. And what you’ll see (and you won’t really see it) will be pretty limited. Among the rules...
• Up to 50% of employees, with no more than a total of 75, allowed in.
• No coaches allowed in.
• No players allowed in, other than those who’d previously been rehabbing there.
So why is the league doing this? It’s really to test protocols early in a way that won’t compromise competitive balance—no team I’ve talked to has a problem with another team having some business-side folks in while some are still under stay-at-home orders—and taking a baby step forward so these buildings aren’t suddenly flooded with people at the end of July with teams just learning how to handle all of it.
It seems like the NFL (and the Chiefs) will continue to take this process very slowly and handle it carefully, as a global pandemic would demand. For more information on the NFL's plans and much more, click here for Breer's full story on SI.com.
