As the NFL Regular Season Gears Up, Giants Remain Confident in COVID-19 Protocols
The critics said it couldn’t be done, that NFL teams, who because of the size of their operations, cannot operate in a bubble environment like the NBA and NHL, couldn’t survive the COVID-19 virus given the sport’s natural defiance of recommended social distancing protocols.
But not only has the NFL proved the critics wrong so far, the possibility of having most if not all of a 17-week season is looking much more likely than it did back in March and April when the pandemic began to peak worldwide.
The NFL had 107 known positive cases before the start of camp, and then 64 players tested positive during training camp ramp-up periods up until August 11. Since then, the league has only had four players test positive and 12 team personnel testing positive.
From August 21-29, the NFL administered over 59,000 tests, and just ten came back positive, equating to only 0.017% of positive testing.
On Monday, the NFL updated its COVID-19 testing protocols, with the new policy shortening the return window, allowing players and other team personnel with a preliminary positive test to return to club facilities the same day if rerun and point-of-care tests both come back negative.
For the New York Giants, they’ve had success keeping COVID-19 out of their quasi bubble environment set up at MetLife Stadium this summer.
The Giants had three players opt-out due to COVID concerns (Nate Solder, Da’Mari Scott, and Sam Beal).
They had two players David Sills V and Josiah Tauefa) land on the Reserve/COVID-19 list, a list created to accommodate players who tested positive or were exposed to someone who tested positive.
Since those early days of camp, the Giants players and coaches have been adhering to the recommended safety protocols in place and have kept COVID-19 out of their building.
"It’s been a great organizational effort," said general manager Dave Gettleman. "There are a lot of people behind the scenes that have done a lot of amazing stuff in the Giants organization to get us to this point."
With the NFL moving to the next stage, the regular season, the COVID safety protocols will be tested yet again.
Whereas in training camp, there was familiarity with what everyone was doing and their protocols. Starting this week, teams will be traveling and mixing it up with other teams, officials, and other game-day personnel whose safety protocols and COVID-19 response plans might vary.
"That’s going to be a challenge that’s going to be presented. But one thing you can worry about is yourself and this team, and I think we’ve been doing a great job," said running back Saquon Barkley. "I think that’s showing up in our testing, and I think the league has been doing well, too.
"Everyone understands how serious this thing is. Going on the road, we’re going to protect each other and continue to play the game that we love."
Safety Jabrill Peppers is also confident that those teams and personnel outside of the Giants family have been taking the necessary precautions.
"I think the league has done a good job of following CDC guidelines," said safety Jabrill Peppers.
"I know we’ve done a good job of testing everyone every day all throughout the building. Wearing our masks, keeping our six feet of space. I would like to think that other teams are doing that as well."
The confidence in the league and its policies is supported by recent testing numbers that provide more than just a glimmer of hope that the NFL can make having most, if not all, of the season and postseason work.
“I don’t know about all 256 games or whatever it is, but I am definitely more confident now than I was,” said team COO John Mara when asked how confident he was about the season taking place.
“If you had asked me in March or April, I would have had serious doubts about that. But given the way the protocols have worked so far and given the very low rate of positive tests, I think we have a good chance of playing a full season.”
Mara believes that even if there are setbacks during the year, the protocols and processes are in place to handle them.
“If it means postponing a game here or there or making it up, I think we’ll be able to do that,” he said.
“Time will tell. But right now, I think the players and the staff have done a great job of being responsible. As I said, our testing results so far have been terrific. I never would have believed that we would have had so few positive tests—and I hope I’m not jinxing it by saying that. But it’s worked very well so far.”
In the short-term, the Giants players and most of the staff will have a long three-day weekend to enjoy. While there might be some temptation to go out or visit with friends and family, head coach Joe Judge is confident that the players, coaches, and staff will be smart about how they spend their time off.
"I’m proud of how they’ve worked on a daily basis to deal with the protocols and keep our team healthy. I’d say that I trust our team to make the right decisions," he said.
"We have a three-day stretch where we’re away from each other. But they’ll be testing. We’ll make sure we’re monitoring the health of the team throughout the time period away."
