League pleased with prevention of virus spread
The NFL is encouraged by the progress made in preventing any major spreads of COVID-19 among the 32 teams, while concerned about an increase in soft tissue injuries.
Dr. Allen Sills, the league’s chief medical officer, noted Tuesday at the first in-person owners meetings since December 2019 that a low positive COVID-19 rate between .04% and .06% is due greatly to vaccinations and protocols working. Nearly 100,000 COVID-19 tests have been taken, 1,200 a day on average across the league.
So far, 94.1% of players are vaccinated, as well as 100% of team and league staff.
“We’re continuing to work with the players association on the goal of 100% vaccination,” Sills said. “The CDC has been in contact with us about how that is achieved, a vaccination success story, and is pointing to the NFL as a model for other parts of society.”
Sills mentioned a recent mini-outbreak with the Arizona Cardinals that included coach Kliff Kingsbury.
“Of the first seven cases in Arizona, five were different strains of the virus,” he said, which indicated those people were exposed outside the team facility. “Definitely the impact of vaccinations, we’re not seeing the clustering or uncontrolled spread of the virus. Nor are we seeing the uncontained, unexplainable, uncontrolled spread we saw last year.”
The league is undertaking a voluntary study of antibody levels to measure and compare who was vaccinated when and which medication, and whether the person had COVID-19. Sills called it a “unique study because of size and the frequent testing.” Players can participate but are not the focus, club employees are.
In the meantime, Bills coowner Terry Pegula was required to leave the meeting for precautionary reasons after being deemed to have had close contact to a person who tested positive for COVID-19 at his daughter’s wedding over the weekend.
As for the soft tissue injuries (hamstring, groin, calf, et al), the numbers are up to a five-year high even though the overall amount of preseason injuries went down. Of course, there were only three preseason games for 30 of the teams during the summer.
Sills cited the amount of work required of players in a short timeframe, and expressed a need for significant load management to combat the problem.
“There’s a lot to unpack there and we will have more to say about this, I think, as we approach the combine (in late winter),” he said. “This year (such injuries) were particularly noteworthy.”
GIANTS LOSE PEPPERS FOR SEASON >> The Giants placed safety Jabrill Peppers on injured reserve with a rupture to the ACL and a high ankle sprain, both on his right leg.
Peppers was hurt in the third quarter on a punt return in the Giants’ 25-3 victory over the Panthers. He is the third of the Giants’ team captains to suffer a seasonending injury, joining center-guard Nick Gates (broken leg) and linebacker Blake Martinez (ACL). PACKERS LOSE ANOTHER RECEIVER >> Green Bay’s decimated receiving group has taken one more hit as the Packers prepare to face the unbeaten Cardinals.
Allen Lazard joined 2020 All-Pro wideout Davante Adams on the reserve/COVID-19 list. That means neither receiver is likely to play Thursday.
CHARGERS MAKE KICKING CHANGE >> Dustin Hopkins was signed as the Chargers kicker after the team waived Tristan Vizcaino.
Hopkins was released by Washington on Oct. 20 after seven seasons. He was 12 of 14 on field goals and 10 of 12 on extra points through six games. Hopkins has made 84% of his fieldgoal attempts during his career and was Washington’s leader in field-goal rate.
Hopkins joins Justin Tucker and Greg Zuerlein as the only three kickers to make more than 145 field goals from inside 50 yards over the past seven seasons.
Vizcaino won a kicking competition with Michael Badgley during the preseason, but struggled during his six games. He missed five extra points, becoming the first kicker since Minnesota’s Fred Cox in 1974 to miss that many in a team’s first six games.