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NFL works on evaluating college players, virus-proofing facilities

By Dave Campbell and Rob Maaddi
AP Pro Football Writer
Like a defense stiffening at the goal line late in the game, the NFL has implemented a wide array of health protocols designed to keep the coronavirus from wrecking the 2020 season scheduled to begin four weeks from now.

Football is just as much a sport of pattern and detail as it is about speed and strength — and that has been clear as training camps around the league address life with COVID-19.

“There are so many steps along the way. You’ve got to fill out your questionnaire on our app when you wake up in the morning,” Minnesota Vikings tight end Kyle Rudolph said. “Then when you come in, you sanitize your hands, do your temperature check, get your COVID tests, put on your lanyard, grab your tracker. So there’s just a lot of things that have now been added to your routine.”

Daily testing, naturally, is the fulcrum of aggressive virus-proofing around team facilities. NFL Network reported that, of 109,075 coronavirus tests conducted on players, coaches and team employees through Tuesday, the rate of positive tests was 0.46% overall and 0.81% for players.

This is good news for a league that was a $16 billion business before the pandemic.

Since training camps began three weeks ago, 108 players have been placed on COVID-19 reserve lists by their respective teams — according to an Associated Press review of the league’s daily transaction logs — and 81 of those players were subsequently returned to active status on the roster. There are more than 2,600 players currently employed across the 32 clubs.

Landing on the COVID-19 reserve list does not mean a player has the virus. The category was created for a player who either tests positive for COVID-19 or who has been quarantined after having been in close contact with an infected person or persons. By agreement between the NFL and the NFL Players Association, clubs are not permitted to disclose whether a player is positive for COVID-19 or simply in preventative quarantine.

Wearing masks, of course, is a vital part of the equation.

After leaving the testing trailer and entering the building, players and staffers must pass the temperature check. The tablet-like device won’t even perform the thermal scan if the person is not wearing a face covering.

“It’s an adjustment. You used to check phone, key, wallet. Now it’s phone, key, wallet, mask, proximity locator,” Vikings linebacker Eric Kendricks said. “But they explained to us the reason behind it. If someone is to get infected, heaven forbid, if we’re close to those people for a certain amount of time, those devices will allow us to quarantine effectively if that’s the case. So there’s a reason behind the madness.”

Passing the symptom questionnaire and the temperature check, with the nasal swab performed in between, then takes the employee to another level of high-tech: the proximity tracker.

The device, which resembles a smart watch, produces audible and visual warnings to help maximize social distancing and keep employees not required to interact with players apart from those who must. The tracker can also provide instant reports for contact tracing in case of a positive test. The devices are worn during practice but turned in at the end of the work day before employees depart the building.

“It’s weird when someone tells you you’ve been too close for too long,” Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes said, “but it’s necessary. We’re going to try to do our part for the community and make sure we can keep playing the game we love.”

The bulk of the virus-proofing protocols are uniform across the league, with each team applying its own twists to fit the facility.

The Miami Dolphins installed new air purification devices throughout their facility. The Tennessee Titans had 4-feet-long dividers placed between each player’s cubicle in the locker room, making the spaces look a little like voting booths. Vikings players can order meals on a smart phone app to reduce time spent in the cafeteria.

The Carolina Panthers have made clever use of Bank of America Stadium to their virus-fighting advantage. All the 80-plus players have their own temporary luxury suite at the 73,000-seat venue, expected to retreat there alone for lunch or during the down time between practices and meetings in the name of social distancing.

There’s almost no end to the precautions that can be taken. Narrow hallways have become one-way paths. Couches have been removed. Even shower heads in the locker room have been taken out to increase spacing. Electric static sprayers are being used for surface disinfecting. Seating capacity in meeting rooms has been significantly reduced.

“We’re so spaced out that it can feel like you’re not all in the same room together, even more than a Zoom, even though you are sitting in the same room,” Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill said.

In an intense contact sport in which participants are bound to breathe on each other often, the work has to be done in the building during the day and at home at night.

“Everyone is going to do the absolute best they can do, knowing that it’s impossible to totally eliminate the risk,” said Vikings head athletic trainer and vice president of sports medicine Eric Sugarman, who is the team’s infection control officer. He tested positive for COVID-19 last month.

As far as the tall task of making it through a full season, the fiercely competitive nature of its participants ought to work in pro football’s favor.

“It’s going to come down to whoever handles the situation the best,” Green Bay Packers defensive tackle Kenny Clark said. “That’s who’s going to be at the top at the end, and I feel like we’re taking all the right steps.”

Evaluating college players is NFL’s challenge

The cancellation of college football games will have a far more significant impact on the NFL beyond giving the league an opportunity to play Saturday games this fall.

Evaluating players for the draft will be among the biggest challenges.

“I think until you understand exactly what the landscape is going to be then you, a little bit, have your hand tied behind your back,” Dallas Cowboys executive vice president of personnel Stephen Jones said. “But, at the same time, I think we’re going to have to be prepared to go back on the tape from last year on some of these players because the way it’s headed right now, some of these schools may not play.”

The Big Ten and the Pac-12 announced Tuesday they aren’t playing this fall. Both leagues and many smaller conferences are aiming for the spring if the coronavirus subsides.

The remaining Power Five conferences — the Southeastern, Atlantic Coast and Big 12 — are still planning to kick off the season next month, though the virus could force them to cancel.

“It’s going to be interesting, it’s going to be a challenge,” Jones said. “Just like we did in the draft, I think our personnel people are going to embrace this and figure out how to do it. If we have some conferences playing and others are not, then we’ll have to have a strategy that addresses the players on the teams that don’t play football this year versus the teams that do.

“I can guarantee you one thing is we’ll get prepared and certainly get in there and roll up our sleeves and get the work done and do what it takes to evaluate these players. Everybody will be having to work through the same things that we’re having to work through and I’m betting our group will embrace it and get it done.”

Many college players who don’t play won’t have an opportunity to improve their draft stock. Even a showcase game or a few won’t be the same as a full season.

Joe Burrow became the No. 1 pick in the draft after throwing 60 touchdown passes and winning the Heisman Trophy. He suggested he’d be looking for a different career if he didn’t play last season. Burrow had a decent junior season for LSU after transferring from Ohio State. His breakout senior campaign earned him a fully guaranteed four-year, $36.19 million contract from the Cincinnati Bengals.

“I feel for all college athletes right now. I hope their voices are heard by the decision-makers. If this happened a year ago I may be looking for a job right now,” Burrow wrote on Twitter.

The timing of college all-star games in January, the NFL scouting combine in late February and the draft scheduled for April 29-May 1 also could be impacted by cancellation and postponement of college games. A league spokesman declined comment Thursday when asked if the NFL would be willing to move some of those events to accommodate changes to the college football schedule.

The draft can be pushed back to as late as June 2, according to the current collective bargaining agreement. The league would need approval from the NFL Players Association to move it back any further.

Teams and their scouting departments are moving forward and preparing to deal with various scenarios.

“We have to be flexible because things will change,” Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst said. “There’s going to be a draft. We have to acquire players. We just have to do it a few different ways.

“We’ve had contingency plans and talked through some things and how we’re going to approach everything if that were the case. Really disappointed for those kids. It’s a tough thing. Some of these guys may never get a chance to play football again. It’s different than other sports. There’s no pickup football games.”

Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll, who previously led USC for nine seasons before returning to the NFL, put it in proper perspective.

“During these times, you don’t get everything that you’re used to. This is not what this time is about,” Carroll said. “This time is about enduring and standing up to the challenges of it, keeping a great mind-set, mentality so that you can make it through it and help the people that need the help. And a good deal of that is not doing what you normally get to do. … This thing we’ll get through it eventually.”

Meanwhile, the NFL pushes ahead with plans to play a full schedule. The league could even move some games to Saturdays to potentially bring in more television revenue, helping overcome some of the economic losses from playing in empty stadiums.

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