NFLPA President JC Tretter Strongly Criticizes NFL Coronavirus Response

The NFL has made several changes to combat the coronavirus pandemic, which has left the United States without any of its four major sport leagues for nearly four months. But NFL Players Association President JC Tretter is arguing that the league's response still hasn't been enough.

Tretter heavily criticized the NFL for its "unwillingness to prioritize player safety" against the COVID-19 pandemic on Tuesday.

"Every decision this year that prioritizes normalcy over innovation, customer over science or even football over health, significantly reduces our chances of completing the full season," Tretter wrote in a post on the NFLPA's website.

"Like many other industries, football's resistance to change is based on the belief that the best way to run things is the way we've always run things. That pervasive thought process will stop this season in its tracks."

Last week, the NFL announced it was reducing this year's preseason from four games to two, but Tretter, along with the NFLPA, want the preseason entirely wiped out from the schedule. The NFL and NFLPA's joint coronavirus task force agreed to a 48-day training camp without preseason games in large part because it would allow players more time to get back into game shape according to ESPN.

The player's association cited the 2011 offseason as an explanation for fewer preseason games. Due to a lockout that year, players did not participate in a normal offseason, and there were more Achilles tendon and hamstring issues that preseason as a result. The NFLPA cautions there could be more preseason injuries this August for the same reason.

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