Patriots Won't Be Part of NFL's Restart Plan on Tuesday
"Phase 1" of the NFL's restart plan begins today, Tuesday, May 19, which allows NFL teams to bring in 50 percent of the team's staff to their facilities at one time and no more than 75 people.
However, the New England Patriots will not be a part of the NFL's re-opening plan on Tuesday.
Though the NFL is allowing that capacity of people to re-enter facilities, teams must abide by state and local regulations in terms of the number of people they are permitted to have inside the facility. Massachusetts isn't reopening until next Monday - May 25 - so New England isn't allowed to re-enter the facility until then, and will only be allowed to have 50 people at Gillette Stadium, per the state's regulations under their re-opening plan, which is under the capacity that many other teams will be allowed to have at their facilities.
There are also some other protocols that teams much meet before re-opening their facilities, which Pro Football Talk outlined last week.
Before the Phase 1 reopening, teams also must create an “Infection Response Team” that will track any employee infections and conduct contact tracing within the facility and arrange for appropriate disinfection of potentially infected sites. Teams also must have an “Infection Control Officer,” who will serve as the “first point of contact for any club employee with new symptoms suggestive of COVID-19 infection . . . exposure to a known COVID-19 infected patient, or the development of new medical condition that confers a high risk of complications from COVID-19 infection.”
Coaches and non-rehabbing players are not allowed to return to the facilities yet under the first phase of re-opening, per NBC Sports' Tom E. Curran, which ensures that no team gets a leg up over their opponents because of state and local regulations.
"Phase 1" of the NFL's reopening plan won't be the first opportunity for some players and staff to re-enter the facility since the COVID-19 outbreak, however. Medical personnel are considered essential workers, which is why they have continued to work inside the confines of Gillette Stadium to provide their services for players who were either on injured reserve in 2019 or had offseason surgeries or some kind of injury that required specific rehab this offseason.
Follow Devon Clements on Twitter @DevClemNFL for more news and notes about the New England Patriots.
