Memo warning to teams
Forfeits possible if rules are broken
Commissioner Roger Goodell has warned the league’s 32 teams of penalties including potential forfeits of games for violations of COVID -19 protocols that force changes in the regular-season schedule.
In a memo sent to the teams Monday after a conference call involving NFL and club executives, Goodell reiterated the need to adhere fully to all of the league’s health and safety guidelines.
“Protocol violations that result in virus spread requiring adjustments to the schedule or otherwise impacting other teams will result in additional financial and competitive discipline, including the adjustment or loss of draft choices or even the forfeit of a game,” Goodell wrote in the memo obtained by The Associated Press.
“Simply put, compliance is mandatory. Now is the time to recommit ourselves to our protocols and best practices for the duration of the season.”
The NFL was forced to reschedule Sunday’s game between the Steelers and Titans when Tennessee had the league’s first coronavirus outbreak, which has affected 20 organization members, including 10 players. That game was moved to Week 7, causing adjustments that also impacted the Baltimore Ravens.
New England’s game at Kansas City was moved from Sunday to Monday night after Patriots quarterback Cam Newton tested positive
for COVID -19.
Goodell noted that violators of the protocols have been disciplined. Several coaches have been fined $100,000 each and their clubs fined $250,000 for improper use of face coverings, the Las Vegas Raiders were hit with a $50,000 fine for allowing an unauthorized team employee into the locker room following a game and on Monday the Raiders had 10 players docked a total of $175,000 for appearing at a function where face coverings were not used, nor was social distancing.
Jets: Sam Darnold and the New York Jets will need to wait a few more days before they know if he has a shot at playing next Sunday. The quarterback has a sprained right shoulder that could limit him at practice — if he’s able to throw at all — when the team begins its on-field
preparations for Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals.
Texans: Houston fired coach and general manager Bill O’brien on Monday. The firing comes a day after Sunday’s 31-23 loss to the Vikings dropped the Texans to 0-4 for the first time since 2008. “In this business, it’s a bottom-line business and we weren’t able to get it to where we needed to get it,“O’brien said. After assuming the role of general manager in the offseason, O’brien received almost universal criticism when he shipped superstar wide receiver Deandre Hopkins to Arizona for running back David Johnson and draft picks.
Browns: Nick Chubb, Cleveland’s powerful Pro Bowl running back, will miss “several weeks” with a sprained ligament in his right knee, a major blow to the improved Browns, who are off to their best start since 2001.
Chargers: Austin Ekeler will be out for at least the next three games because of a hamstring injury.