NFL debates dropping football pre-season to two games per team

OFFICIALS of professional American football league NFL are talking with the players union about reducing the number of 2020 pre-season games, allowing players more time to for conditioning and clubs more times to come together.

A report on the NFL Network said no decision is expected soon but multiple team executives said the most likely scenario there would be only two pre-season warm-up games instead of the usual four.

Players would report to team training camps late next month, but likely would start with strength and conditioning work.

Teams are all-but assured of missing out on all of the minicamp work they would usually have in the off-season because of shutdowns due to the coronavirus pandemic, and neither players nor owners want an increase in preseason injuries as a result.

The report said the NFL Players Association side was not interested in players reporting early, so a reduced pre-season might be the only way to ensure full preparations for the upcoming season, set to start on September 10 with Houston at Kansas City.

The first NFL pre-season game is scheduled for August 6 between Dallas and Pittsburgh at the Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, where enshrinement ceremonies are set two days later.

Reducing the pre-season could bring another week or two for NFL medical experts to prepare safety and testing protocols for the upcoming campaign.

The Hall of Fame, which reopened on Wednesday after being shut for three months, has multiple plans for staging the ceremonies but for now the original schedule is in place.

Hall of Fame president David Baker said: “We also have really five contingency plans that stretch from delaying it for a couple weeks to going all the way to next year.”

The game, which sold out in 22 minutes when tickets went on sale in March, and induction could be delayed a couple of weeks if the pre-season is shortened or pushed into September. It also could be moved to next year or staged virtually.