Inside the 'Intensive' Week for the Eagles

The NFL's intensive protocol arrived in Philly this week after it appears senior defensive assistant Jeremiah Washburn was the staff member who tested positive for COVID

PHILADELPHIA - The text messages arrived on Tuesday, the always ominous mandatory meeting in the workplace.

For NFL teams there's no real concern about catastrophic measures like payroll reductions or mass layoffs but everyone being summoned for an immediate pow-wow is never about good news.

And that was the case for the Eagles, who were informed a staff member had tested positive for COVID-19 on the heels of safety Marcus Epps testing positive for the virus last week.

Dr. Allen Sills' "intensive protocol," was on its way to Philadelphia.

“It was pretty urgent," safety Jalen Mills said. "As soon as the team found out, they sent out a mass text message and saying that we had an immediate team meeting over something really urgent.

"And we got in the meeting room and they told us that we were going into the NFL intensive protocol because somebody did test positive."

The staff member who is believed to have tested positive is senior defensive assistant Jeremiah Washburn after the Eagles' injury report listed Washburn with an illness and said he would not be available for Sunday's game.

With the spike in COVID positives around the country, the NFL hasn't been immune and the Eagles are hardly alone as Sills, the league's chief medical officer tries to mitigate the spread of the virus and get the NFL to the finish line with minimal issues.

The week has come off pretty seamlessly for the Eagles, according to coaches and players.

“The only thing that it really affects is meeting time,” said head coach Doug Pederson. “We leaned on our experiences from the spring, in the summer and training camp with the virtual (meetings).

"… So we’re just limited in the amount of, I guess, availability with the players right now, but we’re going to make the most of it, and the messaging is that we eliminate distractions and we focus on the Giants and we prepare that way.”

The intensive protocol forced the Eagles to make all meetings virtual while social-distancing and mask measures were ramped up for on-field activity.

At practice, players had to wear masks or Oakley face shields that Mills admitted weren't the most comfortable.

During breaks at the session, players had to stay six feet apart when helmets were off and individual iPads were used to look at film. The weight room was limited to 10 players at a time.

“Kind of spaced out on the sideline, even though we were in the indoor (Wednesday) because it was raining," Mills said. "We had to space out. We couldn't huddle up like we usually do.

"We had a monitor on the side where the whole defense goes and watches the previous play and we couldn't do that. We had separate iPads. Had to wear the Oakley face guard, which is really hard to breathe out of playing football. But that's also another protocol. So it was definitely a little different.”

Center Jason Kelce noted the virtual spring work had the Eagles ready.

"We’ve had a lot of experience with the virtual meetings up to this point, so I wouldn't say that it's too different," Kelce said. "We do a good job of staying involved and staying active on the virtual meetings, and I think that if we hadn't been doing this all offseason already, and tried to do it randomly in the middle of the season it might be a bit of a challenge, but we did this for the entire offseason. We did it a lot during different meetings throughout the year.

"So, I think everybody at this point is perfectly comfortable doing things virtually, if necessary."

By the time Friday rolled around Pederson's biggest concern was traffic.

"Honestly, there hasn't been a challenge," the coach said. "Maybe traffic in Philadelphia. And I say that seriously because we know that traffic can be an issue with guys coming from Jersey or from downtown or parts of PA and just getting the guys here rather than getting them here early in the morning."

From the players' perspective, time management became the toughest hurdle. Instead of the day being mapped out at the facility it was drive in to be tested, practice, and leave again with the virtual meetings bookending everything.

“I think the most difficult thing is time management," Mills said. "... We want to sit in the locker room, chill, talk before meetings or practice, whatever it may be. So I think the biggest thing is staying to the protocol and knowing the times.”

Defensive tackle Javin Hargrave was also nonplused.

"I don’t think it’s difficult just because we kind of seen it in the offseason with the virtual stuff and just being virtually on meetings and stuff like that," he said. "I think we did a lot of good adjustment to it. Still getting a lot and learning a lot from it. Our coaches have been good to us in the meetings."

John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John every Tuesday and Thursday on "The Middle" with Eytan Shander, Harry Mayes, and Barrett Brooks on SportsMap Radio and PhillyVoice.com. He’s also the host of Extending the Play on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen

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