Watt watches
Defensive end urges teams to pay attention to other leagues to avoid COVID-19 complications
DE observes how others handle pandemic.
defensive end J.J. Watt has been watching closely as NBA and MLB teams have experienced rocky moments during their respective relaunches. Those complications have included multiple positive tests for COVID-19 for baseball and basketball players, as well as frustrating delays in testing results and lingering questions about the accuracy of the tests.
As the NFL prepares to launch training camps this month — the Texans’ fullteam start date is July 25, with most teams starting July 28 — Watt emphasized that all professional sports teams need to pay close attention to the other leagues to gather valuable information to avoid similar problems.
“I hope we’re watching it, because if we’re not, then we’re missing a learning opportunity,” Watt said during a conference call to raise awareness about Gatorade’s “Beat the Heat” program, which preaches proper hydration. “Whether it’s the NBA, MLB, the NWSL, we’re in uncharted waters right now. Everybody should be looking and observing and watching what everybody else is doing to see what works, to see what doesn’t work and needs to be tweaked, because we’re all going through this thing together.
“Everybody wants sports … but we also want it to be as safe as possible. Learning from other people’s experiences and trying to tweak it and make it as best as possible by the time we get around to it is very important to do.”
NFL teams will be prohibited from postgame interactions within 6 feet of each other, which means players won’t be allowed to exchange jerseys after games as part of the guidelines to help limit the spread of the coronavirus.
Protocols unveiled
The restrictions were outlined in the gameday protocols finalized by the league and NFL Players Association on Wednesday. The 11-page document sent to each club and obtained by the Associated Press includes several changes for the upcoming season:
• Players and coaches are not required to wear masks, but everyone else on the sideline is.
• Everyone with access to the bench area is prohibited from sharing any personal items, including cups, food, towels and clothing.
• Anyone who records a body temperature at or above 100.4 degrees on game day will not be permitted to enter the stadium.
• Inactive players must either be in the designated bench area or must remain in the locker room, an empty suite or some other designated, isolated location in the stadium during pregame and throughout the game to avoid interactions with any non-team personnel.
• On-field fan seating is prohibited.
• Cheerleaders, mascots, flag runners and other entertainers must be approved by the NFL in advance and, if approved, must meet physical distancing and screening and testing requirements.
• Media are banned from the locker room.
Several players, including Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson, criticized the league’s banning jersey exchanges.
“That’s DAMN SILLY bro” Watson wrote on Twitter with a palm-to-face emoji. “Then explain to me why are they allowing us to play at all? The other 4 quarters don’t matter. … I don’t understand so help me sir.”
Watson added: ‘So have you ever played in a professional football game before? So you don’t think when you get tackled sweat and saliva isn’t there? Or during timeouts or in a huddle or in between plays guys aren’t talking to each other face to face? I need better facts to get it.”
San Francisco 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman wrote on Twitter: “This is a perfect example of NFL thinking in a nutshell. Players can go engage in a full contact game and do it safely. However, it is deemed unsafe for them to exTexans change jerseys after said game.”
The league and the players’ union still haven’t agreed on testing and screening protocols.
Preseason or no?
Watt has participated in the past few NFL Players Association conference calls for players to discuss training camp guidelines, including the union’s preference to play no preseason games and have a longer acclimation period following an offseason with no organized team activities or minicamps.
The NFL wants to have two preseason games, a reduction from its normal schedule of four. Players also have discussed whether they would have the ability to opt out of playing this season during a global health crisis, which some NBA and MLB players have decided to do.
Watt said it’s too soon for football players to make that type of major decision without having more information about training camp and regular-season guidelines and safety procedures.
“I think it’s a very fluid process,” Watt said. “It’s getting closer and closer to the report date. As of right now, we don’t have enough information to make a decision like that yet.”
From an individual standpoint, an accomplished player like Watt doesn’t necessarily need to play any preseason games to get ready for the rigors of a 16-game regular season. Watt has done that before, missing every preseason snap before playing roughly 90 percent of the defensive snaps during the regular season.
But the absence of preseason games would cut down on opportunities for undrafted players, most of whom need game tape to prove themselves and earn a roster spot.
“I think whatever is in the best interest of the safety of the players is important,” Watt said. “If the doctors and NFLPA doctors decide that it’s not in the best interest of the players to have them, then we don’t have to. But I also, at the same time, think about undrafted guys and the guys who make the roster in the fourth preseason game and how special that is and how many opportunities would be missed by that.
“I’m on both sides of the fence. As a vet personally, do I think preseason games for someone in my situation is absolutely necessary? I would say I don’t think so. But I would say there’s a whole bunch of people who need those opportunities, who live for those opportunities. It could literally change a life. … That’s a very difficult debate to have.”
Varying situations
Watt has had steady access to a full weight room and fields to run on to maintain his usual workout regimen. That hasn’t been the case for all NFL players, which means there will be varying degrees of conditioning levels when teams report for camp.
“The hard part is everybody is in a different situation,” Watt said. “Some guys have full-blown home gyms, full fields they can work out on. They haven’t missed a beat. They’ve been able to do full training and can go right into training camp today if they had to.
“Some of the guys have been living in an apartment, and maybe they don’t have a weight room. Maybe their apartment complex shut down their weight room. They haven’t been able to go to a regular gym. Maybe they don’t have a field. Everybody is in different situations. That’s the toughest part is figuring out where guys are at.”
When the Texans drafted Watt in the first round in 2011, there was no formal offseason because of a lockout imposed by owners during a labor dispute. When labor peace and a new collective bargaining agreement were negotiated, camps opened immediately.
“There were no OTAs. We didn’t have any of that,” Watt said. “We were straight into training camp and played the season like normal. The biggest difference there was you could still go to gyms. You could still go to fields. You could work out together. You can’t compare apples to apples in that situation because this is so different and some guys haven’t had the luxury of having access to the same things everybody else has.
“I’m sure there are some guys who would be prepared today to go into training camp and be ready to roll. I also know there’s a whole lot of guys who wouldn’t be prepared, who do need that ramp-up period. I think for us the important part is figuring out how we do what’s best for everybody.”