Adding to bubble is a goal

Saints leading way in creativity

The NFL has constructed what it calls a “virtual football bubble” around each team’s training facility this summer, hoping that stringent health protocols and regular testing of players, coaches and staff members for COVID-19 will enable the league to conduct training camps and, ultimately, the 2020 season amid the pandemic.

The issue, of course, is that players and others leave that virtual bubble to go home each day.

The potential exposure to the virus faced by NFL players and other personnel outside the team environment has some health experts and other observers worried that the pro football season could be marred by the same sort of outbreaks that has plagued Major League Baseball this summer.

So some NFL teams, including the New Orleans Saints, are taking it a step further by providing players, coaches and staffers with the option of staying in a hotel while away from the facility. Such a move reduces the risks of infection through interaction with the outside world.

That’s not a mandatory element of the NFL’s protocols.

On the other hand, it is a voluntary step that could enhance the league’s chances of staging an uninterrupted season.

Titans

Tennessee Titans placed linebacker Vic Beasley on the non-football injury list days after he finally reported for training camp. The Titans announced Tuesday that Beasley must pass a physical before he can rejoin practices. They also waived injured linebacker Reggie Gilbert.

Beasley, who signed a one-year deal for $9.5 million in March, waited 10 days before reporting for training camp.

He had to pass three COVID-19 tests since reporting Aug. 7 before taking a physical with the Titans.

The eighth pick overall in 2015 out of Clemson by Atlanta, Beasley led the NFL with 15½ sacks in 2016 and has 37½ sacks in his career.

He started 15 of 16 games played last season and is expected to be a key piece of the defensive front opposite Harold Landry.

Giants

The 36-year-old daughter of New York co-owner and film producer Steve Tisch has died. Hilary Anne Tisch died Monday, Steve Tisch said in a statement issued on behalf of the family. The statement did not cite a cause of death or say where she died, but it noted she had battled depression.