Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Training camp is officially open for business
Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa wore a light blue medical mask to cover his mouth and nose.
So did safety Bobby McCain, who also wore black gloves on his hands, too.
Rookie first-round pick Austin Jackson, a left tackle, wore a mask with a checkered pattern.
A group of Dolphins receivers sported some color as DeVante Parker wore a black mask, Jakeem Grant had a red one, and Preston Williams wore a gray cloth mask.
Monday was the first day Dolphins players could enter the team’s Davie practice facility as training camp begins this week in preparation for the 2020 NFL season.
But it was also a sobering occasion as news of a COVID-19 outbreak with the hometown Miami Marlins dominated the sports news cycle Monday morning before three Dolphins players were later placed on the team’s reserve/COVID-19 list.
Dolphins cornerback Cordrea Tankersley, long snapper Blake Ferguson and defensive tackle Benito Jones will be under quarantine after either testing positive or encountering someone who has tested positive for COVID-19.
Players designated on the list have either tested positive for COVID-19 or are under quarantine after close contact with an infected person.
Dolphins quarterbacks, rookies, injured players and several veterans such as Parker, Grant and McCain — who were permitted to report with the first group — were allowed into enter the team’s facility Monday after two negative COVID-19 tests last week.
Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, who is entering his 17th NFL season, was the first to enter the Dolphins facility — so early that the team’s social media crew was unable to spot him, like they did the other players.
All other Dolphins veterans are scheduled to report Tuesday for their first round of testing. The earliest they may enter the team facility after two negative COVID-19 tests will be Saturday.
The players will participate in a series of conditioning workouts before eventually ramping up to football training while wearing football pads, and no preseason games will be played in August, as is customary.
Still, the news of the day in the sports world centered on the Marlins, who had 14 members of their organization (players, coaches and staff ) test positive for COVID-19 after three games on the road to begin the MLB season.
Some Marlins players who played on Sunday, ending their first series of the season with a 2-1 record and lead in the NL East, may have taken the field already infected with COVID-19.
The Marlins are stranded in Philadelphia until further notice with hopes to contain the spread. Their home opener on Monday night against the Baltimore Orioles was canceled.
This is the new coronavirus age of sports in America, as MLB and NFL teams do not have the “bubble” environments the NBA, WNBA and MLS are using to severely limit contact with the rest of the world and avoid travel.
The NFL and its players’ association hammered out their respective COVID-19 protocols in the last 7-10 days just before players began to arrive, in hopes of as much of a seamless training camp as possible considering the circumstances.
The Marlins’ COVID-19 case study, even in its beginning stages, hits home for the Dolphins, who hope to conduct their training camp before the season is scheduled to begin in early September.