Coaches Headed Back to Facilities

The Miami Dolphins coaching staff will be allowed to return to the team's training facility in Davie on Friday, June 5, according to a memo the league has sent out.

As stated in the memo, "This may occur only if your club has otherwise received necessary permission from state and local governments to reopen its facility."

Here’s the memo that went out to teams on coaches returning to facilities tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/8xhXcKrhZT
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) June 4, 2020

Starting Friday, teams can increase the number of employees at the facility to a total of 100, including coaches, but subject to state and local regulation and implementation of "the protocols developed under the leadership of (NFL medical officer) Dr. (Allen) Sills.

"Coaches and other football staff, particularly those who may be in a higher risk category or who have concerns about their own health conditions are expected to speak with the club medical staff or personal physician about any special precautions or other accommodations that may be appropriate for their particular circumstances. In addition, we will work with club medical staffs to implement a program of COVID-19 testing for the coaching staff and other football personnel prior to players returning to club facilities."

Dolphins head coach Brian Flores and his assistants have been trying to make the most of the virtual offseason so far.

"We’ve got meetings with the players tomorrow (and) everyone is set up at their homes," he said. "We would hate to have a glitch with the players because we want to go back into the office. Those are the things we’ll talk about as a staff with our video department, with our IT department, with the coaches. They all do a great job. If you didn’t have respect or admiration for your IT or video departments during this whole situation, then you do now.

"As far as how this has gone with the players, I think the Zoom meetings have been good. We’re making the best of the situation. I’ve tried to tell them, we’re not going to make excuses or point fingers or say this is why something didn’t happen. We’re going to make the best of the situation and try to improve, try to get better, try to improve. I don’t have different words to say that. We’ll just try to improve and get better and we’ll try to do that on a day-to-day basis."

Earlier this week, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell informed teams that they cannot hold training camp at a remote facility, such as the Pittsburgh Steelers have done for many years in Latrobe, Pennsvylvania, or the Carolina Panthers have done in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

Additionally, teams were told that joint practices would not be allowed, which put a stop on the idea of the Dolphins practicing with the Atlanta Falcons before their preseason matchups at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, as Falcons coach Dan Quinn said had been discussed early in the offseason.

Finally, ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter reported this week that players will not be returning to team facilities until training camp.

There’s no official announcement, and discussions are ongoing, but multiple people expect that the next time NFL players show up at teams’ training facilities will be for training camp, whenever that begins, per sources.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) June 3, 2020

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