Fully vaccinated don’t need masks
Raven rookie: Squirrel meals aided weight loss
The NFL is not requiring fully vaccinated players and staff to wear masks at team facilities following the CDC’s latest guidance regarding COVID-19.
In a memo sent to clubs on Friday and obtained by The Associated Press, the league and the NFL Players Association made the modification after consulting with their medical and scientific experts. Players and tiered staff who haven’t been fully vaccinated must continue to wear masks until they receive the vaccine, if they plan to get it.
Cleveland’s Kevin Stefanski learned of the news on the practice field during rookie camp. The reigning NFL Coach of the Year was able to take his mask off for the first time as a head coach.
“It felt pretty good. There were some people I didn’t realize what they looked like,” he said.
Clubs were told to review current and local state regulations and to have the vaccine available for players and staff.
“We expect additional modifications will be made to the protocols consistent with CDC guidelines reflecting the greatly reduced risk of viral infection and transmission in fully vaccinated individuals,” the memo read.
RAVENS: In the span of only a few hours Thursday, Ben Cleveland suited up for his first practice, had a former WWE champion ask whether they might be related, and explained how he used to crush roughly 4,000 cheesy calories before bed in high school. Oh, and there was the squirrel stuff, too.
“One of those things where you eat what you got in the freezer,” the Ravens rookie guard said after the first day of rookie minicamp “So I had a few squirrels freeze-dried in there. Get a little hungry, ain’t got no deer meat left, fry up a squirrel or two and just go eat that.”
Cleveland, a 6-foot-6, 340-pound thirdround pick, avid outdoorsman with a bushy beard and a strongman’s physique, told reporters this spring that the animal’s lean protein helped him cut weight before his Georgia pro day, where he ran a 4.97-second 40-yard dash and completed 35 bench-press repetitions of 225 pounds.
Cleveland also explained Thursday that he didn’t take his nutrition seriously until his sophomore year of college. On Tuesday nights in high school, he’d reward himself after practice with a trip to the local Little Caesars in Toccoa, Ga. He’d buy two or three pizzas to take home and eat two before bed. A large Classic cheese pizza has about 1,950 calories.
After seeing a clip of Cleveland, Braun Strowman, a former WWE champion and a tower of power himself (a listed 6-8, 385 pounds), asked him on Twitter: “You fam ???? ”
BRONCOS: The Associated Press and NFL Network report that receiver DaeSean Hamilton sustained a serious knee injury Friday while working out on his own. This is the second time this month that a Broncos veteran has been hurt away from the team’s facilities.
On Friday, the Broncos cut Ja’Wuan James, a week after putting him on the non-football injury list after the right tackle tore an Achilles tendon while working out away from the team’s headquarters.
The Broncos weren’t obligated to pay James’ $10 million-plus salary for 2021 because he got hurt while working out on his own, and the team is similarly off the hook for Hamilton’s $2.183 million salary for the upcoming season.