NFL will test for virus on game days, no bubble plans
The NFL has no plans to move into a bubble as it takes several new steps to combat the spread of the coronavirus.
The league will begin PCR testing for COVID-19 on game days starting this week, use of masks in walkthroughs are now mandatory and only play-callers will be permitted to wear face shields in lieu of masks or gaiters on the sideline.
“We cannot grow complacent, not the players, not the coaches, not the rest of our personnel,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said Tuesday following virtual meetings with team owners. “Ninety percent is not good enough in this environment. We have to be incredibly diligent and disciplined.”
The updated protocols sent to teams Monday night also require anyone identified as a “high risk” close contact to be isolated and not permitted to return to the team’s facility for at least five days.
“We expected positive COVID cases as long as the pandemic is prevalent in our society,” Goodell said, citing rising numbers in communities. “Our protocols are designed to identify through testing, isolate and then prevent the spread of the virus in our team environments, and our medical experts are encouraged by the
fact that with few exceptions, we have not seen transmission of the virus.”
Goodell spoke a few hours before the Tennessee Titans were scheduled to host Buffalo in their first game since an outbreak shut down team facilities and forced the schedule to be rearranged.
The Titans had eight people test positive Sept. 29 and the total reached 24 players and personnel. It doesn’t appear the league will discipline the Titans for any violation of protocols following a review of the team’s actions.
“We are really working closely and identifying and speaking to clubs and players in open dialogue,” Goodell said. “This is not about discipline. This is about making sure we’re keeping our personnel safe. And that’s been our entire focus today.”
Goodell said the league will maintain flexibility in order to complete the season with the Super Bowl. However, it doesn’t appear one of those options will be moving the playoffs into a bubble like Major League Baseball did. The NBA and NHL finished their regular season and postseason in bubbles.
Troy Vincent, the NFL’s executive vice president of football operations, said the league is “proceeding as is” and deferred to Dr. Allen Sills, the league’s chief medical officer.
Sills said all options are on the table but warned there are several risks to moving into a bubble. He pointed out that other individuals such as service workers still have to go in and out of the bubble. He emphasized the infection can spread more rapidly if it gets inside. And, he stressed the human element, saying that being sequestered can cause an “emotional” and “behavioral health toll” that becomes a “really significant stress point,” especially around the holidays.
“So for all of those reasons, right now, today, we don’t feel like that is the safest course of action for us,” Sills said. “We’ve consistently said that we’ll reevaluate all of these decisions along the way and make what we think is the safest decision and all options remain on the table. But that’s our thought about it as of today.”
In their two-hour meeting with owners, the league also discussed ongoing diversity, equality and inclusion initiatives and social justice and social responsibility.
Facetime: NFL coaches have learned lessons on face masks
After the Las Vegas Raiders handed the Kansas City Chiefs their first loss in 337 days, Jon Gruden sat down for the postgame videoconference looking like a Wild West outlaw.
“Can I take this off?” he politely asked his public relations man before slipping off his black bandana face mask.
Gruden wore the face covering properly in all but three of the 50 times he was shown on the CBS broadcast
Sunday, and during two of those transgressions he quickly pulled it back over his nose.
That was a 180-degree switch for Gruden, one of five NFL head coaches fined $100,000 last month for failing to abide by the league’s mask rules.
Last week against the Bills, Gruden was shown more times (20) violating the NFL’s coronavirus safety rules requiring noses and mouths to be covered than he was shown in compliance (19) with the COVID-19 mitigation measures.
The other coaches who were dinged -- and their teams docked $250,000 -- for shoddy mask also learned their expensive lessons.
They all started complying in Week 3, when Broncos coach Vic Fangio began donning a face shield like Andy Reid. Saints coach Sean Payton was wearing his mask properly 32 of 35 times he was shown on the telecast last week against the Lions, and 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan was 100% in compliance during the 35 times he was shown against Philadelphia.
And Seahawks coach Pete Carroll had his mask on last week against Miami for all but a handful of sideline shots. He, too, pulled it back over his nose most of those times he was shown in violation.
This is a good thing not only for their pocketbooks and reputations but for the league as a whole because the Tennessee Titans’ COVID-19 mess began with an assistant coach testing positive for the virus last month.