NFL Docs: Safe to Open Training Camps 'With Reservations'
It's not exactly the most confident assessment but the NFL has decided to move forward when it comes to training camps, most of which are set to begin on July 28.
The NFLPA asked for a conference call with team doctors and got it on Thursday night with the assessment being that "with a couple of reservations, that it was safe to open training camp."
"And they provided their medical reasons," according to NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith, who met with reporters during a wide-ranging, 90-minute video conference call Friday.
NFLPA president J.C. Tretter joined Smith, and both emphasized that health and safety is the main goal for the union with the economics taking a back seat.
Smith also compared the potential startup to the NFL being the owner of a plant with the right to say when things are open and when things are closed.
"It's our job to ask questions," said Smith.
And plenty are being asked.
"How safe is it to start back up a football season at this moment with locations in this country where teams are located going through giant spikes in this virus?” Tretter, the Cleveland Browns center, asked rhetorically.
Veteran Los Angeles Rams offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth also jumped in to explain just how difficult this process might be moving forward.
Whitworth had a family member who went out to lunch and contracted COVID-19. From there Whitworth, his wife and kids along with his wife's mother and father, all tested positive, highlighting just how quickly things can spiral out of control.
"The idea that this is going to go away with the snap of a finger and you don't have to change, that's not going to fly," Tretter said. "Everything needs to be revamped and refitted to fit coronavirus."
As of now, Smith said he is not aware of any NFL players who have decided to opt-out of a potential season. The NFL has proposed an Aug. 1 deadline for that but that date has not been agreed upon as of yet.
The NFLPA, meanwhile, is also taking a hardline on an acclimation period, asking the league to follow the recommendation of the joint NFL/NFLPA task force which is essentially three weeks of strength and conditioning before 10 days of non-padded practices, and then two weeks of contact to get ready for regular-season games.
As for preseason games, the NFLPA remains vehemently opposed.
The league has already agreed to shorten the preseason to two games but is resisting against striking them all.
“To engage in two games where players would be flying all over the country and then engaging with each other to work, and to do that prior to the season doesn’t increase the likelihood of starting and finishing the season on time,” Smith assessed.
Other sticking points are daily testing for COVID-19, something the union wants with the league countering with three times weekly.
“We’ve had coaches say the protocols are too much to ask,” Tretter said. “Coaches come forward and saying, ‘Everyone’s going to get sick, so we might as well all get sick together.’ Those attitudes can’t happen. There are consequences to getting sick.”
Smith went even further with that sentiment.
“Slogans and wishful thinking haven’t led our country through this pandemic and it will not lead football on any level through this pandemic," he said.
As for what will? Smith has his own thoughts.
"Wearing a mask will probably be the most significant component of whether sports return in this country," the executive director said. "That's not a political statement; that's a common sense and scientific statement."
John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John every Monday and Friday on SIRIUSXM’s Tony Bruno Show with Harry Mayes, and every Tuesday and Thursday with Eytan Shander on SBNation Radio. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
