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Tag: training camp

False Positives in the NFL

Sunday morning at 2:51 am, the Chicago Bears NFL coach Matt Nagy received a phone call. Knowing that any call at that hour would mean trouble, Nagy braced himself for what he was about to hear. He listened as Andre Tucker, the Bears infection control officer told him about members of his team that tested positive for Covid-19.

Being one month into training camp, Nagy was both shocked and disappointed as he received the new cases on his team. These cases would question the teams ability to play and also question the likelihood of the 2020 regular season to start. After being so careful during the duration of the Bears training camp, Nagy pondered how this could have happened to his team. According to ESPN, Nagy said “My initial, five-second gut reaction when I was told was just pure disappointment and frustration. It’s hard when you hear that, because everyone is doing such a great job of doing everything that we possibly can in our control to prevent stuff like this. When you hear this, you think, ‘Wow, what’s next?'” he continued.  Little did he know, 10 other teams across the league were experiencing the same horrifying phone call and dilemma.

The NFL was faced with a crucial situation as 77 tests across the whole league came back positive. They started to question whether the season would happen with this many confirmed cases. Not to mention all of this chaos took place before the start of the season. The NFL was planning for the worst when they realized that all 77 tests had come from the same lab in New Jersey. These positive tests were then tested again and each and every one came back negative. The NFL’s health and safety team announced that the tests were indeed false positives. The whole league let out a sigh of relief as the future of their season got a whole lot brighter. Many coaches admitted to being happy this happened now rather than during the regular season. Positive testing like this would have sent the league into turmoil. Once a player tests positive, they will be immediately isolated. Because of this mishap, the NFL has announced that every positive test will be followed by two more tests — one a traditional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and the other a rapid-response — in a 24-hour period. If both return negative, the individual is reinstated to the team facility.

All precautions are being taken to limit the amount of players and staff to contract this Covid-19 virus. The NFL is doing their best to put into place rules and regulations to eliminate any further cases to occur. These false positives shook the league and made them reevaluate their testing procedures. The league, the players, the staff and the fans all hope to remain safe and have a successful 16 game regular season this year!

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Here Comes The NFL

NFL training camp is officially underway which means the season we’ve all been waiting for is right around the corner. Training camp is usually the first glimpse of the talent that we will see all season, but of course this year it is run a bit different. Covid-19 has essentially changed the way events are taking place, and major league sports are no exception. The question on everyone’s mind is “can the NFL get through training camp and the 2020 season with no Covid outbreaks?”

Training camp has been run unlike any other camp this year with many new Covid-19 protocols in place. An event that is usually open to the public has been closed off due to the pandemic and even the length of the camp has changed. The NFL is hopeful to start the regular season on time, but that is due in part to a modified training camp schedule. Although the dates that players report have not changed, the athletes will be following periods of Covid-19 testing and acclimation so players can begin the full contact workouts in mid-August. The acclimation period is longer than usual to protect the players who have had limited to no contact practices since the start of the pandemic. The idea is to ease them in slowly over the span of 2 weeks and work their way up to full contact football. This precaution is of course paired with everyday testing for 2 weeks as well to ensure the players and staff’s safety.

To keep the NFL timeline for the season opener of the regular season on track, they decided to eliminate the preseason all together. The 32 teams will go straight from training camp to week 1 regular season football in early September with the Chiefs facing off against the Texans on Thursday September 10th. Because these two teams get a jump start to the season rather than playing their first game on the following Sunday like the rest of the league, the Chiefs and Texans began their camp and protocols 3 days earlier. The rest of the teams brought their rookies to camp on July 21, the quarterbacks and injured players on July 23, their veteran players on July 28 and are beginning full contact practices on Aug 17. The following schedule shows how they are to run training camp this season.

July 28-31: Covid-19 testing and virtual meetings

Aug 1-2 :Physicals and equipment distribution

Aug 3-11: Acclimation period

Aug 12-16: Gradual ramp-up period

Aug 17- Sept 6: Contact integration period (practice)

What many to consider “true training camp” would be what is starting on August 17. It was also announced in early June that training camps would be in each team’s home stadium to avoid the need for teams to travel. We are expecting the NFL to follow suit with the NHL, MLB and NBA with a fanless season as we make our way towards September, but hope that this can change throughout the season.

Although this season may look different, we are all so happy to have the opportunity to watch our favorite team play this fall. The NFL is doing everything they can keep the season on track and allow the players to play. The new protocols are put in place to keep everyone safe and we hope to see success throughout the season. Whether the season remains fanless or not, we will still be cheering on our teams. And as always Go Bills!

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