Unvaccinated NFLers face hurdles: coach
List of requirements long for those players
WASHINGTON — On a day the NFL loosened restrictions on vaccinated players and team personnel, Minnesota Vikings coach Mike Zimmer had a warning for those who decide not to get immunized against the coronavirus.
“The unvaccinated players are going to have a harder time in the season,” Zimmer told reporters via Zoom.
The 65-year-old coach, entering his eighth season in Minnesota, noted some of the inconveniences those on his team who decline the vaccine could expect.
“They are going to be wearing masks, they're going to have to social distance, they'll have daily testing,” Zimmer said. “They won't be able to go home for bye week, they'll have to come back here and test every day. When we go on the road, they won't be able to go out to dinner with anybody. They'll have to travel on buses differently and travel on planes differently, so a lot of the meetings will be virtual like this (media session) is here.”
In updated protocols for training camp and the pre-season the NFL issued to teams Wednesday, the league said that, as opposed to daily testing for others, vaccinated players and team staffers will be tested just once every 14 days. Those vaccinated will also not be subject to quarantining as part of contact-tracing efforts, they will have no travel restrictions and they can much more freely use team facilities, such as weight rooms, saunas and dining halls.
More than 50 per cent of the NFL's players have been vaccinated, but teams will need much higher proportions to avoid frequent disruptions to carefully honed practice and travel plans. Once the regular season begins, unvaccinated players could be in constant peril of being sidelined if deemed a high-risk close contact to someone who tests positive, as was the case last season.
Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins declined to say Wednesday whether he had been vaccinated. He predicted that this season will be “a lot like last year.”
“We already lived it for one season,” Cousins said. “It's a fluid situation, as it has been since the COVID pandemic began. We'll kind of take it one week at a time, one month at a time, and see where we are when we get to the season. You know, it's so important that we focus on football as well, and make sure we're winning football games. That's what really it'll be about.”
Asked about players possibly weighing whether to get vaccinated in the context of helping the football team, he said, “People just need to make their own decision, and make the one that's best for them and for their families.”
Among the Minnesota players who have been fully vaccinated is linebacker Eric Kendricks, who told reporters Wednesday, “I did that because obviously I want to be able to travel about and see members of my family and friends, and not get them sick, as well as me not get sick.”
To Vikings defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson, there was a distinct upside to the unusual way the 2020 season played out amid the pandemic.
“Guys actually had a life a little bit,” he said. “You got to be home (with) virtual meetings. They tried to take up most of your time throughout the mornings, and then the only time you went up to the facility was for practice, and then your lift.”
With a smile, he added, “You can't really beat it.”