How the Jaguars Have Adjusted Their Offseason in the Midst of COVID-19 and Social Distancing
As a result of the outbreak of COVID-19 throughout the world and the United States, the normal order of things has been turned upside down. This applies to nearly every industry, and the NFL is no exception.
In a time of the year where teams are bringing players in for physicals, workouts, or draft visits, all NFL facilities have been shut down in an attempt to slow the spread of the virus. Social distancing has become the primary tactic to combat the virus from expanding its reach, and as a result, NFL teams have had to make massive changes to their offseasons in terms of free agency and draft preparation, offseason workouts and programs, and installing new playbooks.
“I think there is a lot of things. First and foremost, the safety precautions that you need to take. We have seen what this virus has done. It has affected many people all over the world," Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone said Tuesday. "We are taking it very seriously and we have taken it very seriously from the beginning. Right away, we set up hand sanitizers amongst ourselves even in our own home. We are doing everything we can making sure that there is distance and all of the things that people are advising us to do."
How have Marrone and the Jaguars adjusted their gameplan in the midst of a crucial offseason? First of all, the team has made sure its roster and staff are aware of the health precautions that need to be taken during an uncertain time.
"We have gotten a bunch of stuff out more from the standpoint of precautionary, making sure you are listening," Marrone said. "Making sure everyone is on board with how serious this is and how we have to all pull together and do our part to defeat this virus and stop it from spreading. We have been doing that."
But what about football operations? In the past, the Jaguars could bring players into their facilities at TIAA Bank Field to see the team's own trainers, coaches, and front office executives in person. Now, that is impossible, leading to the Jaguars and the rest of the league having to adjust how they tackle this period of the NFL offseason.
"As far as the workouts, we are working through that now with the league. Normally, players will have physicals before they start the workouts," Marrone said. "We have given them some tips on what they can do. We have touched base with many players just to say, ‘Hey, are you doing okay? How do you feel? Let us know if you need anything.’ We have our [training staff] available. It has been a trying time."
For the Jaguars specifically, they were originally planning to use this offseason to install a new offensive playbook and transition defensive additions into the team's 4-3 scheme. Jacksonville hired Jay Gruden as its newest offensive coordinator earlier in the offseason, meaning the entire offensive roster will have to be learning a dramatically different scheme than what has been implemented in the past.
For second-year players, it will be their second offensive scheme in two years. For the players who have been on the roster since at least 2017, this will be their third offensive coordinator in as many years. This kind of coaching turnover requires a big transition period for the roster and coaches alike, but now the Jaguars will have to adjust on the fly.
This adjustment will mean the Jaguars' offensive staff digitally recording installation meetings and distributing it to the players to watch in their own homes or facilities.
"As far as us as coaches, we are trying to stay with the schedule knowing that things are obviously not open for us right now and it is something that is changing throughout time. We’re getting everything prepared from a standpoint of our installations," Marrone said. "We are getting ready to tape a lot of meetings and things of that nature, so if we are allowed to send things out to the players, they can be able to look at it at their own pace and work on their profession in a safe environment."
One major part of the offseason that will have to undergo dramatic changes is the organized team activity period, which was originally supposed to begin on April 20. Now, the period in which players first return to their facilities as a team following the prior season have been indefinitely delayed as a result of the virus.
Now, Marrone will have to prepare his coaches and players alike without any field work for the time being. Organized team activities are a crucial part of each team's offseason, meaning the Jaguars will likely now have to undergo a vital period of work without actually stepping foot onto a field.
"I think that’s going to be difficult. I think that’s a challenge. I think we’re still working through that part of it," Marrone said. "The part that we are working on at the moment is the lines of communication, meaning that when April 20 comes, which was going to be our starting date for phase one, what are we as coaches, what were we going to give the players in that time frame? How we’re going to present what we’re installing, what we’re doing. Hey, listen, let’s get those on tape, let’s tape meetings, put them out there unless the league tells us otherwise. Then the players have the opportunity to see that on their own."
In a time of major uncertainty and unprecedented adjustments, Marrone and the Jaguars are making sure they lean on the direction they get from the NFL to ensure they are remaining safe and compliant, but are also able to accomplish their offseason goals.
But, Marrone noted, it isn't all a negative. Some of the practices the team are being forced to take can eventually help the team down the road, even if it isn't an ideal situation today.
"We’re taking every direction from the league, so we’re sticking by all the rules and doing everything we can," Marrone said. "Like I told the coaches, this is great for us to get that stuff on tape. It’ll beneficial for us if we acquire a new player down the road that they can go back and look at this. We used to tape our meetings during the year, especially installation meetings because of that purpose.
"Right now, we’re working on that, so this way, on April 20, if someone doesn’t tell us anything, all of the players that are under contract, we’ll shoot them all the information and meetings. There’ll be a team meeting. It’ll be exactly how we would do it as if they were here from a meeting standpoint. We’re still working on the other stuff to see what we can and cannot do from a liability standpoint and putting out workouts.”
