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This offseason has seen some strict rules handed down by the NFL and how they want teams and their players approaching this offseason. That continued this week when the league sent a memo to teams instructing them to stay at their home training sites for camp due to the COVID-19 pandemic. So teams that usually travel to other locations for camp, like the Dallas Cowboys, have to stay in their home cities.
Included in the decision was also the cancellation of joint practices — meaning the Buccaneers and Jaguars will not practicing together this summer as originally planned.
In the memo, which was discussed on NFL.com, Commissioner Roger Goodell said that the steps to cancel camp travel and joint practices will enhance the safety of the players and staff. He added that this was a joint decision by both the league and the NFLPA.
The NFLPA was strongly in favor of these two decisions, which were made to limit exposure risks by avoiding the need for clubs to clean and maintain two facilities, by limiting the need for players and club staffs to travel to another location (sometimes located at a considerable distance from the home facility), and by limiting travel and contact between players on different clubs in the context of joint practices. These steps are being taken for the 2020 preseason to address the current conditions and are not expected to be in place in 2021.
As of now, it seems like training camp may be set to start on time with these restrictions. The other big question mark is the regular season, which Goodell had originally stated anything said of the regular season is premature and nothing has been set in stone for the rest of 2020.
But at least this is some sort of a good sign the the league may be moving forward with some kind of plan for the season to happen. Pending anymore concerns over the pandemic of course.