NFL unveils new COVID-19 protocols to slow outbreak

The NFL announced on Wednesday that all of its teams would be entering intensive COVID-19 protocols following a surge of coronavirus cases across the nation.

Now, all players and coaches must test negative for COVID-19 prior to entering team facilities. All meetings will now be held virtually unless they can be held outdoors with a pre-approved plan. The intensive protocols will start on Saturday.

“The upcoming holidays, beginning with Thanksgiving next week, will introduce new risks of exposure that we need to address now,” Commissioner Roger Goodell wrote in a memo. “Because we have a highly sophisticated program of daily testing, we know when the virus enters our facilities, which underscores the importance of contact tracing and other steps to minimize close contacts within a facility. Recent experience has highlighted the importance of minimizing high-risk close contacts; on multiple occasions, we have seen individuals identified on that basis test positive within a short time. We have also seen many instances in which effective action by clubs to minimize these close contacts prevented the virus from spreading within the club, and avoided players or coaches being ruled out of practice or games.”

All players and coaches will be forced to wear masks or Oakley faceshields, according to the memo. Players will be allowed to remove their helmet and masks for breaks, but they must remain six feet apart from each other to ensure social distancing.

Basically, if players are not directly participating in football drills, they must adhere to strict social-distancing policies in order to mitigate spread.

This news comes on the same day that NFL Network reported

that nearly the entire Raiders starting defense was placed on the COVID-19 list due to high-risk close contacts. Ian Rapoport reported that eight starters and key role players were placed on the list, but they will be eligible to play if they continue to test negative.

The Giants had coronavirus news of their own on Wednesday when it was announced that punter Riley Dixon and long snapper Casey Kreiter were placed on the COVID-19 reserve list. On Monday, kicker Graham Gano was placed on the list.