Why the Giants' Coaching Staff Could Not Return to the Team’s HQs Despite NFL's Approval
Although the NFL coaching staffs, per an NFL memo from Commissioner Roger Goodell, were eligible to return to the team's facility starting on Friday, in the Giants' case, there are a couple of factors why the staff didn't report.
The first is that the Giants, this week, have been in the earliest stages of their reopen the Quest Diagnostics Training Center, which has been closed on a New Jersey State order since mid-March.
Under the first phase of the NFL's master plan to reopen team facilities provided state and local government guidelines deem it permissible, there is a limit of up to 75 personnel allowed in the team facilities (all buildings) at any one given time.
The Giants, this week, revealed that up to 15-20 staff to include some members of football operations (minus the coaching staff), and business had returned to work.
However, the team also made it clear that the same 15-20 personnel that was back in the building on Wednesday would not necessarily be in the office daily, which suggests plans for rotating who is permitted in the building and who is not during this initial phase.
The Giants coaching staff consists of approximately 25 members, so for the Giants to allow all those members to be back in the building at once, the team would likely have to wait until a later phase in the building’s reopening plan which includes an increase in the number of employees permitted onsite.
There are two other factors involved regarding when the coaches can be admitted back in the building.
First, head coach Joe Judge, the last time he spoke to the media, mentioned how he’d be reluctant to ask any of the players to get on a plane to travel to New Jersey for workouts given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
So it wouldn’t be a stretch to think that Judge would extend that sentiment to his staff members, many of whom have been working remotely in other parts of the country, for as long as possible.
The other factor has to do with recommended CDC and Giants COVID-19 task force recommendations in which once it’s safe to travel.
This part is important because it is part of the daily health screening process that all employees and, eventually, visitors will have to complete before being admitted to the facility.
There is a posted sign outside of the guardhouse (which can be seen in the second photo in this slideshow posted on the Giants' web site) that has four bulleted questions and an advisory that if anyone answers affirmatively to any of the questions, they will not be permitted inside the building.
One of the questions asks, “Have you traveled internationally or domestically (outside of the immediate New Jersey, New York, Connecticut tri-state area) within the past 14 days?”
As many of the Giants coaches have been working from their homes across the country, they apparently would have to self-quarantine for 14 days once returning to the tri-state area and show no signs of COVID-19 before they can be admitted to the team’s facility.
Although it’s believed that some members of the coaching staff remained local during the building’s shutdown, it is possible Judge might want for his entire staff to be together in person rather than to have some members in the building while the others continue to work remotely.
It's not known when the Giants coaches, who wrap up the virtual off-season program with the players on June 12, will be back as a full staff to the Quest Diagnostics Training Center, but assuming health and safety measures will allow for an increase in personnel admitted back to the facility, presumably that day won't be too far off.
