Perspectives: Why the Giants Will Be Okay Despite These Unprecedented Times

In the past, when injured players would talk to me about how they were keeping up by taking mental reps, I’d cringe.

Mental reps are a real thing, and they do indeed have some advantages, but they are in no way, shape, or form substitutes for physical reps, not when it comes to football.

Well, here we are folks, in the new and scary COVID-19 world where right now, physical reps aren’t feasible nor safe. And talk about timing—the Giants have added a bunch of new players to a team that is being driven by a brand-new coaching staff which you’d think would put this team behind the eight ball, right?

Not necessarily—and not because some of the other teams are in the same boat.

I believe that those teams with the best coaching staffs will come out all right. And to make my argument, I take you back to last season, when the Giants under a coaching staff that had mostly been together since the 2018 campaign, left much to be desired when it came to scheme and teaching players.

Think about it for a minute how many times did we see the players looking confused late in the year at a time when the mistakes should have been diminishing? While not all of that is on the coaching staff, it still left one to wonder about the practices in the classroom, and if the players were truly grasping what they were supposed to do.

As I’ve noted before, I am bullish on the coaching staff new Giants head coach Joe Judge has assembled, as every single one of those guys has a strong background as a teacher. And let’s not kid ourselves—that’s huge.

Judge, in planning his virtual off-season program, has spoken about wanting to emphasize the details to include the various roles within a scheme and how it all fits together. The idea, as he’s said in the past, is to get the players to understand not only their role but the roles of those around them so that when they do take the live reps, they can hit the field and play faster with fewer mistakes.

Unfortunately, what virtual learning can’t simulate is the speed of the game, which often is the biggest learning curve for NFL rookies to overcome. Some of that can be off-set by engaging in intensive film study, e.g., an offensive tackle who studies every last detail of how the edge rusher across from him plans to line up is a very good start.

But let’s be clear. Football is a physical game that needs to be practiced for that on-field chemistry to develop and for players to learn how to think on their feet should something break down—which they do probably more than we realize n any given play due to the law of averages.

With all fieldwork on hold—and depending on how things go with social distancing, there’s a good chance that training camps could be affected as well—knowing what to do and being able to do it are going to be two very different things which could impact the quality of the game.

NFL Insists the Season Will Be Played…But Can It?

The NFL continues to insist that not only will it release its schedule this week, it is also planning on beginning the season on September 10.

Should be out by May 9th as we've said. Kickoff slated for Sept. 10 and the 101th season concludes w/ Super Bowl LV in Tampa on Feb. 7, 2021. https://t.co/8YizywybGJ
— Brian McCarthy (@NFLprguy) April 29, 2020

I have to admit to being curious as to why the NFL is so confident that it will succeed in having season when every other major sports league has suspended or postponed their season indefinitely.

According to Pro Football Talk, who reports that there is an “extremely small chance” that there will not be a 2020 NFL season, the NFL is banking on “the current and expected medical and scientific developments in the coming weeks and months.”

The problem though, is that because this virus is so new, researches are uncovering new aspects about it—how it affects the body, symptoms, and so forth--every day.

Pro Football Talk also notes that the availability of widespread testing will also play a part in whether there is a season:

The biggest potential impediment to playing football will be the availability of adequate and efficient testing, both for football personnel and the general public. By August, however, it’s expected that testing will be prevalent, that the testing process (saliva or finger prick) will be simple, and that the results will be turned around very quickly.

Testing is all well and good in that it will allow for health and medical officials to get a better handle on who is a carrier of the virus and act accordingly—assuming everyone is willing to be tested (and I can't imagine why someone wouldn't want to be).

But I’m wondering how such logistics would work and if there was a sudden rush on testing what kind of overload would that put on the system the NFL is counting on?

The major problem with this thinking remains that until there is a vaccination in place to prevent new cases from popping up and/or proven medication to stop the growing number of cases from resulting in death, widespread testing might not be enough to combat a virus that every day it seems researchers are learning more and more about.

Is it realistic--both logistically and cost-wise-- to expect players, staff and all those associated with the production of an NFL game, to remain isolated in a sterile environment from September through the playoffs?

Even if, for example, the league were to move gameday operations to a state where the number of COVID-19 cases are low, the fact remains that there are still cases out there and no known medication or vaccine to combat them.

Given that there are so many moving parts involved here that include additional staff, e.g. hotel staff, suppliers, etc., short of placing everyone involved in a plastic bubble, I can't fathom how this would play out.

That doesn't mean it can't be done, but given the unchartered waters we're in as a society, I can't help but fear that the NFL's expectations aren't fully realistic.

Add us as a preferred source on Google